Covid 'chaos' from IT error 'put people at infection risk'

The extent of the city's Covid surge in recent days has been concealed from local public health officials trying to slow its spread after a spreadsheet mistake at Public Health England (PHE) caused 'chaos' by leaving thousands of cases off official figures and not passing them on for contact tracing.

Oxford mayor Craig Simmons said it meant the city had likely hit 'red alert' – more than 50 cases per 100,000 people – earlier than originally thought and it made him 'doubt some of the decisions made'.

He cited mobile testing units as a possible extra measure which could have been taken if it had been known the true total sooner, adding it was crucial to be able to deal with spikes early.

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The Green party councillor said: "What we need is good data fast and what we're getting is poor data late."

Councillor Louise Upton, cabinet member for 'safer, healthy Oxford', however, said while the rise was concerning it was 'not unexpected' and in line with what is happening nationally.

She said the city council was working with the county's public health team, universities and businesses to minimise the spread of the virus.

Ms Upton added: "We’ve also been working with Public Health England to increase capacity for testing in Oxford in response to the increase in cases, which people can access through the national booking system."

PHE has said the national IT error resulted in 15,841 cases between September 25 and October 2 being left out of the reported daily coronavirus cases.

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In Oxfordshire there were 218 new cases reported over the weekend and a further 101 in Oxford.

This included both missed cases and new positive test results. Last weekend, the total new cases for the county was just 48.

Oxfordshire's director of public health Ansaf Azhar had already warned last week, before the error was discovered, that a surge in Oxford cases put the city at risk of 'tough' lockdown measures.

Oxfordshire's director of public health Ansaf Azhar

An outbreak among partying Oxford Brookes University students has been behind many city cases, with 47 of 67 infections in the city in the seven days to September 25 caused by Brookes students.

On Friday, the city also hit red alert, with the rolling weekly rate of infection for the city 60.3 per 100,000 people for the seven days to September 29.

It was based on 92 new positive tests but according to the updated PHE coronavirus dashboard the true figure during the period was 126 – a 37 per cent difference.

Oxford West MP Layla Moran said: “The IT error with positive tests is a real cause for concern – how many more people will have been needlessly infected because contacts weren’t contacted by Test and Trace in time?

Layla Moran

“What is clear is that cases in our county, especially in Oxford, are continuing to rise at an alarming rate.

"We need to get the virus under control in our area, and clear communication from government would really help us do that locally."

She added: “I’d like to see our local public health team given more control over test and trace in our area."

Mr Azhar revealed last week he was planning to set a local contact tracing system to pick up those missed nationally, describing the current testing situation as 'extremely challenging and frustrating'.

It came as figures revealed just 61 per cent of close contacts of people with coronavirus in Oxfordshire were reached between May and September through NHS Test and Trace.

The Health Secretary, addressing MPs this afternoon, said despite the IT error 'every single person' who has tested positive for Covid was told their result and to self-isolate.

He added: “However, these positive test results were not reported in the public data and were not transferred to the contact tracing system.”

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Michael Brodie, interim chief executive at PHE, said the 'technical issue' was identified overnight on Friday in the data load process that transfers Covid-19 positive lab results into reporting dashboards.

It is understood the problem was caused by an Excel spreadsheet reaching its maximum file size, which stopped new names being added in an automated process.

The files have now been split into smaller multiple files to prevent the issue happening again.

Anneliese Dodds

Oxford East MP Anneliese Dodds said she was 'deeply concerned' by the recent increase in infections in Oxford, adding: "This is compounded by recent test result chaos, which people in Oxford will understandably find alarming."

Ms Dodds also tweeted: "We're more than six months into this crisis, yet the Government still can't get a grip on test, track and isolate.

"Ministers must be honest and open about why this has happened and how they’ll fix it. Jobs, lives and livelihoods depend upon it."