public health england have admitted
tonight that nearly 16
000 cases of coronavirus between the
25th of september and the 2nd of october
were not included
in daily figures for that period and not
transferred to the contact racing system
some of them were included in the
figures published yesterday and
today the latest daily figure shows 22
961 cases recorded for the last 24 hours
33 deaths were also recorded that's a
people who died within 28 days
of a positive covid19 test and that
takes the total number
across the uk to 42 350.
and our health editor hugh pim is here
in the studio so on these
nearly 16 000 cases which we're only now
seeing recorded in the figures hugh how
did that happen
well it seems as if it was an i.t error
but quite an extraordinary announcement
late this evening
that nearly 16 000 of these positive
tests weren't put into the system and by
a quick calculation it looks as if
what we thought were around 7 000 daily
reported cases at the end of last week
were actually more than 11 000 compared
with about 7 000
a week earlier now public health england
have said it didn't affect anybody
getting their test results they were all
told in the normal way
but something seems to have broken down
between the labs carrying out the tests
and then the data being put into the
test and trace system
so it means that the contacts of these
people who tested positive
weren't actually approached because the
test and trace system didn't have their
details so
up to a week was lost in not following
up those contacts so that is
quite a serious situation now we're
assured
that this it problem has now been
contained that all the extra cases have
been added in
for yesterday and today and they should
revert
back to something akin to what we've
been seeing before
and we should also say there are other
bits of data that show
that there could be a leveling off in
cases but it comes at a very awkward
moment for the government they're trying
to
get confidence in test and trace and
work out how the virus is spreading
and then this error comes along phew
thank you very much
well earlier the prime minister warned
that the uk faced a very tough winter
with the virus but that he hoped things
would be radically different by the
spring
labour accused him of failing to set out
a serious strategy
ian watson's report contains some
flashing images
how times change despite a big election
victory many of boris johnson's winning
policies
have been obscured by the coronavirus
crisis
the political temperature is rising with
covert cases going up and his poll
ratings coming down
today he acknowledged people's
frustrations but delivered grim news
that it might not
be all over by christmas they're furious
with me and they're furious with the
government they are but
but but you know i've got to tell you in
all canada
it's going to continue to be bumpy
through to christmas
it may have may even be bumpy beyond
labour are accusing him of losing
control of the virus
he acknowledged that testing needed to
improve and promised that it would
it is not perfect andrew i'm not going
to claim it's perfect certainly
am i am i frustrated with it yes of
course i'm
frustrated with it am i going to blame
nhs test and trace
uh and attack the the thousands of
people who are no no i think doing good
of course i'm not uh but i think i take
full responsibility for the service i
think by
international comparators it is it is
really very very good indeed
boris johnson will speak online to his
virtual party conference this week
and some of the faithful wanted to
reflect on his performance as prime
minister
i've been speaking to some long-standing
conservative mps
and some of the new intake and quite a
few of them say they still want
further proof that boris johnson having
battled the virus himself
is still up for the job and some say
they'd like to see the old boris back
the man who used to denounce the
doomsters and glimsters
but who these days seems to be the
bearer of bad news
this is a government that's facing an
unprecedented crisis
and i think that if people wanted me to
approach
it uh with you know the the sort of uh
buoyancy and elon and all the other the
qualities that
uh i normally bring to things i think
people would think that was totally uh
inappropriate
and as for his health issue is that uh
when i
last got this richard thing i i was i
was too fat
but now i am fitter than several
butcher's dogs
as for other people's health households
in odom have been living under enhanced
restrictions
since august and some want to know when
this will end
i do think it's going to destroy all
them not a lot i mean
pubs are restricting people coming in
people aren't going in we need to
abide by the rules so then it won't last
longer than it has to
labour says more clarity is needed on
when and why restrictions are imposed
we're not going to blame the british
public like boris johnson
we're proud of what the british public
are doing we understand why local
restrictions may be needed but
i think it's andy burnham who's been
saying it's a bit like hotel california
places go into these restrictions you
check in but you can never leave
boris johnson says we should go forward
without fear but with common sense
but it seems that balancing act may have
to be maintained
well into the new year ian watson bbc
news
well as the conservative conference gets
underway online what is the mood of
voters in two of the constituencies held
by the party
our deputy political editor vicky young
has been exploring that in two wiltshire
seats south swindon
and devises
the butlers have ambitious plans for
their wheelchair farm
it's been in the family for generations
and they've adapted with the times
richards a conservative supporter but
he's worried about a no deal brexit
that would be a disaster for farming and
could impact really badly on the
on the next generation and he wasn't
impressed by the government's threat to
break
international law by going back on the
brexit withdrawal agreement
i was actually quite shocked by that and
if you look at all the people right
around the world who've condemned that i
think
that was a severe misjudgment as for
boris johnson's leadership
it's not a very optimistic time so he
doesn't look comfortable
in his own shoes at the moment and and
as i say he's got difficult choices
to make most of those are about the
response to the kovid pandemic which
could define mr johnson's premiership
the heart of wheelchair is natural
conservative territory
but even here the fallout from dealing
with a pandemic
is straining some of those old loyalties
there is a lot of sympathy for boris
johnson
as he confronts this unprecedented
situation
but there's also concern that at times
his government
has appeared incompetent
in marlborough the poly tea rooms are
packed but others in the hospitality
industry are watching
businesses go under because of
restrictions
currently i don't believe they've been
out to help any entrepreneur
hattie's catering company folded a few
months ago
i have no loyalty to the conservative
government
at the moment they've got to pull some
massive things out of a bag
we don't know exactly which way or which
direction we're going
it's we need to somehow find a way and
direction to get this country back on
its feet
or else it's not going to recover for
years to come
a few miles away in swindon play times
returned at the kids about
centre with restrictions likely to go on
for months
the scott family says it's time for
everyone to pull together
i wouldn't want johnson's job absolutely
not and to be fair i think he's doing a
cracking job
he's our prime minister whether we like
it or not and we need to get behind him
if we don't get behind him we're going
to be in a situation where it's just
going to get worse and worse
i really believe they're trying to do
what they think is best they're trying
to juggle the economy to people's
safety and health and that's a really
hard balance i just think a house
divided
won't survive so if we're as a nation we
need to come together and
if we come together and support and go
through mistakes and learn from them
then we're winning
mr johnson faces more difficult
challenges over the next few months
his own mps are hoping he has a tight
grip on the situation
vicki young bbc news swindon