The scheme has been criticised for not tapping into local knowledge enough amid fears it may not stop a second wave.
NHS Test and Trace will now provide local authorities in England with a dedicated team of contact tracers for local areas. It will mean the numbers of tracers - NHS clinicians and people trained during the pandemic - is cut from 18,000 to 12,000 on 24 August.
In the pilot schemes, local authorities have visited people at their homes when national contact tracers have been unable to reach them.NHS Test and Trace, Public Health England and local authorities will be able to work together to ensure more people are reached, the government said. Labour said the new plans show the test and trace scheme is not as"world-beating" as the government claims.
"NHS Test and Trace is one of the largest contact tracing and testing systems anywhere in the world, and was built rapidly, drawing on the UK's existing health protection networks, to stop the spread of coronavirus," she said.
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