UK governmement announces 'track and trace' scheme to help end Covid-19 lockdown

Starting tomorrow, the UK government will roll out its test and trace scheme in England.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock made the announcement at the Downing Street daily briefing, describing it as an "incredibly important milestone".

The testing and tracing tool is a strategy designed to help end lockdown but will rely on the willingness of people to comply with instructions to self-isolate for two weeks if they have been close to anyone with the virus.

The scheme works if people who have virus symptoms immediately self-isolate, book a test through NHS and stay at home. If tested positive, the NHS will help establish who you might have infected and gather their contact details. They then will have to self-isolate.

But opposition parties again say the government has been too slow to act and raised concerns that not everyone will comply.

Mr Hancock warned the public it was everyone’s civic duty to follow the instructions.

"To protect your friends and family, testing and tracing must become a new way of life," he said.

The roll out comes as an additional 412 people died since yesterday from Covid-19, taking the UK total to more than 37,000.