Greater Manchester is to launch its own ‘track and trace’ system next Tuesday as pressure on the government to complete a national version ramps up.
The localised system will use the existing expertise of officials in areas such as public health and trading standards to trace more complex cases that cannot easily be done through a planned national phone bank and app, such as rough sleepers and people with mental health difficulties.
Sir Richard Leese, leader of Manchester council and the region’s health chief, said he believed such a system would be needed for between 18 months and two years, in order to control localised outbreaks.