London at risk from second deadly wave of coronavirus infections, warns founder of Covid-19 tracker app

London is “definitely” at risk from a second wave of coronavirus infections, one of the country’s top experts in tracking diseases warned today.

Tim Spector, professor of genetic epidemiology at King’s College London, said there were about 800 new infections a day in the capital and the Government’s Test and Trace initiative would only help with a fraction of the cases.

He told the Standard: “There is no way this is going to control any further outbreaks. You need to be doing lots of things together. We mustn’t think this is going to be the solution to all our problems.”

Professor Spector said other academics had suggested test and trace could, at best, reduce infections by 15 per cent.

He said it should only be seen as part of a wider package of measures – and called for tougher rules on hand-washing and face masks.

Professor Spector, who founded the Covid tracker app that is now used by one million Britons to record symptoms, said the virus was not declining as sharply in London as elsewhere.

“It’s not dropping quite as fast as it is in other parts of the country, like the South West, where rates are very low,” he said.

He warned the problem with the test and trace symptom was that symptoms tended only to appear – if at all – three or four days after somebody became infected.

There was then a further 48 hours awaiting test results.

He said: “Five days will have gone past… they will catch some but they will also miss a lot.” Last week the Office for National Statistics revealed than only about 30 per cent of people who had tested positive for Covid-19 had symptoms at the time of the test.

He called for London to be vigilant against a second spike. “All epidemics start in big cities, generally,” he said.

“We have to be most vigilant. That is why I think we ought to have stricter rules on handwashing and checking people for symptoms, and maybe make things like our symptom tracker compulsory. All of them together will help.

“If anywhere is going to do badly, it’s going to be London because of the density and public transport. It’s definitely the one to watch.

“We should also take much more seriously the other public health measures – disinfecting hands any time you go anywhere public. We are not enforcing that. We are not enforcing masks in public places.

“I think if you do all these things together there is a much better chance than just relying on one slightly political [initiative]… it was the app and now it’s track and trace. What’s it going to be next week? They keep forgetting it’s a whole suite of these things together.”

He said the NHS app, which is being trialled on the Isle of Wight but is behind schedule to be rolled out nationwide, had been a “distraction”.

Professor Spector said: “If it works – great. But I think it’s just been a distraction to say we can’t do anything else because we are just waiting for the app.

“The best way of trying to spot an early change is through our symptom tracker app, that will pick up a hotspot in an area earlier than anything else that is currently out there.