Cumbria has seen its Covid contact tracing success rate fall for the third week running, new figures reveal.
The Government's chief scientific advisor Sir Patrick Vallance said there is "room for improvement" in the NHS Test and Trace system.
Data from the Department for Health and Social care shows 2,267 people who tested positive for Covid-19 in Cumbria were transferred to the Test and Trace service between May 28 and October 14.
Contact tracers ask these patients to give details for anyone they were in close contact with in the 48 hours before their symptoms started.
This led to 5,456 close contacts being identified over the period – also referred to as "non-complex" cases, meaning they could be dealt with through a call centre or online.
But just 64.6% were reached – down from 67.3% at the start of the scheme to September 23, 66.3% by September 30 and 65.6% by October 7. In Cumbria, 654 new positive cases were transferred to test and trace in the latest week
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