NewsColony

NewsColony Matt Hancock’s Covid crisis ‘trace agents’ will have NO medical knowledge Thousands of vital coronavirus ‘contact tracers’ are only now being recruited by the Government – two weeks after the Health Secretary first announced they would be hired. Matt Hancock said his plan to employ 18,000 tracers, who will be tasked with ringing people who are newly confirmed with the virus to ask who they were recently in contact with, was a key part of tackling the pandemic. Announcing the scheme on April 23, Mr Hancock said: ‘As we look ahead, this is critical to keep the virus under control.’ Outsourcing firm Serco is also understood to be recruiting from among its call-centre staff but has posted no public job adverts so far. Any delay to the deployment of human contact tracers could be disastrous and further undermine Mr Hancock’s reputation. Contact tracers are seen working in Brussels, Belgium Public health experts also say tracers will be essential to stop a second dea...