Recommendation 9

In our March 2021 report, we concluded that NHST&T published a lot of performance data but that this did not demonstrate how effective test and trace was at reducing transmission of COVID-19. We recommended that NHST&T should improve the data it published so that people were able to get a better sense of its effectiveness, as well as 9 Qq 34–35, 113; C&AG’s report para 2 10 Department of Health and Social Care, Coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in the UK data tables 11 Qq 34, 120 12 Qq 34–35, 120 13 Q 51, Department of Health and Social Care, Confirmed cases of COVID-19 variants identified in UK 14 Qq 51, 52 Test and Trace update 11 periodic evaluations of its impact on infection levels.15 The NAO found that NHST&T had worked to model the impact of its activities, which was an inherently challenging task, but that there were some uncertainties in these estimates.16