THE UK’s coronavirus contact tracing programme has launched without its centrepiece NHS app as experts warned it will not be a ‘silver bullet’ which kills off the disease reports the Daily Mail.

The NHS Test and Trace system for England will see anyone who develops symptoms told to self-isolate and get tested, with the close contacts of those who are found to be positive for the disease then told to quarantine for 14 days even if they are not sick.

Boris Johnson announced the roll-out of the scheme during an appearance in front of the Liaison Committee this afternoon amid concerns that without the app the Government could struggle to tackle the spread of the disease.

The Prime Minister admitted the UK’s testing capability was underpowered at the start of the outbreak because the ‘brutal reality’ was that the UK did not ‘learn the lessons’ of previous pandemics.

Insisting self-isolation would only be an imposition for a ‘tiny minority’, he added: ‘I would just say to everybody that it’s worth it because that is the tool that other countries have used to unlock the prison. That captivity for a tiny minority for a short time will allow us gradually to release 66 million people from the current situation.’

Health Secretary Matt Hancock then used the daily Downing Street press conference to announce that coronavirus tests will be made available to everyone with symptoms, even the under fives.

Testing capacity is now at 161,000 a day, he said, but the latest numbers showed that only 117,000 were carried out today while photographs showed some drive-through testing sites were empty.

The Government is pinning its hopes of ending the nationwide lockdown on the success of the test and trace scheme.

But it will go live tomorrow, earlier than the June 1 launch date which had been anticipated, without the NHSX coronavirus app which digitally records close contacts and will massively speed up the contact tracing process.

Dido Harding, executive chair of NHS Test and Trace, today claimed the app is just the ‘cherry on the cake, not the cake itself’ but ministers had wanted the technology, currently being trialled on the Isle of Wight, to roll out nationwide in the middle of this month.

But problems with its development have seen it delayed which means the new scheme will initially be entirely reliant on an army of 25,000 contact tracers to track people down and prevent a second wave of infections.

Ms Harding did concede that the rollout of the massive new system is unlikely to be straightforward as she said: ‘There will be some kinks, for sure.’

There remain major question marks over how the system will work in practice with ministers not intending to fine people who refuse to self-isolate.

Meanwhile, councils and public health officials will be tasked with containing any localised outbreaks of the disease in the future, with local authorities warning they must be given the required powers to act.

Experts said there could be ‘several points of failure’ with the test and trace scheme.

Prof Linda Bauld, Professor of Public Health, University of Edinburgh, said for it to work there would need to be sufficient testing capacity, fast results, confidence in the data handling and a willingness from people to self-isolate.

She said: ‘This is going to be very challenging for some and that means that the “support” element of test and trace (statutory sick pay and access to food and medicines if needed) will have to work well, and be put in place quickly. Given all these steps, we shouldn’t expect that this will work perfectly and there could be several points of failure.’

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The NHS Test and Trace programme will be split into two parts. They are:

Part One

Step One: Isolate. When someone gets symptoms they should self-isolate for seven days. Anyone in the same household should do the same.

Step Two: Test. They should order a coronavirus test online or by calling 119.

Step Three: Results. If a test is positive they must complete seven days in isolation. Anyone in the same household should complete 14 days. If it is negative no one needs to isolate.

Step Four: Contacts. People with a positive test will be contacted via text or email or by phone and told to answer questions and share phone numbers and email addresses for close contacts.

Part Two – For People Flagged As Contacts

Step One: Alert. People flagged will get a text or email. They will then be told what they need to do.

Step Two: Isolate. They will be asked to self-isolate for up to 14 days based on when they last came into contact with the person. Other household members do not need to self-isolate unless symptoms are present.

Step Three: Test. If they develop symptoms all other household members should self-isolate. They should then order a test. If it is positive self-isolation must continue for seven days. If negative you must still complete 14 days unless virus not yet showing.