Councils in England to be offered near real-time data on Covid cases

Authorities will have to sign data protection agreements to get access to PHE database

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Councils across England will be offered near real-time data on infections and a dedicated teams of contact tracers, after growing concerns over the government’s £10bn coronavirus test-and-trace system.

Whitehall officials plan to assign virus-hunting teams of healthcare professionals to more than 10 local authorities following trials in Leicester, Luton, and Blackburn with Darwen.

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