The number of people being told to self-isolate by Test and Trace in Oxfordshire has reached its highest level in six months, figures reveal.

Department for Health and Social Care data shows 4,154 people were told to self-isolate after being in contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19 in the week to July 7, the latest data shows.

This is the highest number since January 20 which was three weeks after the country was plunged into its third lockdown.

Contact tracers ask new patients to give details for anyone they were in close contact with in the 48 hours before their symptoms started.

The figures show 5,044 people who came into close contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19 in Oxfordshire were transferred to Test and Trace in the week to July 7.

It means 890 contacts were not reached by the service. The figures do not include those told to isolate in specific settings such as schools and prisons.

Across England, more than 160,000 cases were transferred to the contact tracing system between July 1 and 7, with 381,000 people identified as coming into close contact with someone who had tested positive – also the highest number since the week ending January 20.

Isolation is recommended but not mandatory, if someone is alerted by the app, while those contacted by Test and Trace have a legal duty to self-isolate.

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