England's test and trace programme to launch on Thursday

A COVID-19 test and trace service will launch in England on Thursday to help the loosening of lockdown measures, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said.

"(From tomorrow) there is a new test and trace operation which will change people's lives and which will require a great deal of thought and compliance but which I think will be worth it for the whole nation," Johnson told a committee of lawmakers on Wednesday. The service, which Johnson said would have a taskforce of about 40,000 people to test and identify the contacts of anyone who tests positive for the virus, will not initially include the app that is key to finding anonymous contacts.

The government did not give a date for when the smartphone technology would be deployed. Anyone with symptoms will be required to take a test, the government said, and if positive they will be asked for their close contacts, who will in turn be told by a specialist tracer to isolate for 14 days, even if they have no symptoms.

Johnson said asking those who were asymptomatic to isolate was a "huge imposition", but it would only apply to a "very, very small minority of the population". "It's worth it because that is the tool that other countries have used to unlock the prison, to make sure that we can go forward," he said.

"That captivity for a tiny minority for a short time will allow us gradually to release 66 million people from the current situation." He said the system would initially rely on British people following the advice to self-isolate, but sanctions could be later considered if necessary.

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