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The peeress, who is in charge of the NHS Test and Trace service, said that a “clear path” towards reaching the 80 percent target advised by the government’s Sage advisory committee could now be seen. “We are not far away from it,” she told the Lords Science and Technology Committee. “We are not exactly there yet but we are close enough that we can see the path.”

Lady Harding acknowledged that more needed to be done to make people aware they could have a test – as less than half of people in England knew that.

“Should we be doing more to educate and inform and give confidence in the service? Yes, I think we should. This is still only four-and-a-half weeks old.

“My biggest concern is that less than half of the population in England are aware they are eligible for a test, that everyone can get a test if they are feeling unwell.”

She said community leaders had a vital role to play across the country in terms of encouraging and supporting those who have been asked to self-isolate by the NHS service.

“The local public health teams are an intrinsic part of our test and trace service,” she added.

“So the teams in local government and the regional teams in Public Health England are an absolutely essential component of that end-to-end, national to local, multi-panel test and trace services.”

But she was unable to provide a date for the unveiling of a functioning coronavirus test and trace app after they were forced to ditch the original model.

It comes as Downing Street announced it would no longer publish daily coronavirus testing figures, with the Prime Minister’s spokesman claiming that due to repeat and routine testing, the statistics would no longer provide an “accurate reflection of the amount of daily testing that is taking place”.

“Test and trace statistics published weekly do still include the number of people who have been tested,” he added.

Labour shadow health minister Justin Madders described the move as “an absolute shambles”.

Baroness Harding said a new “backward tracing” system is currently being trialled in Leicester.

Cases of coronavirus have spiked in the city, prompting the introduction of local lockdown measures as the rest of England began to ease restrictions further.

Normal contact tracing asks patients to provide details of the people they have been in contact with in the two days before developing symptoms.  The backward tracing system examines the previous 14 days.

“I think as the rate of infection comes down, backward tracing becomes increasingly viable,” Baroness Harding told the committee.

“I think it’s an important component in the overall model.”

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