The UK's Coronavirus Test and Trace programme, which is still failing to track a quarter of patients who have tested positive, has cost £10bn so far.
The Government had announced that Britain would have a "world-beating" test-track-trace system up and running by June 1 - but weeks later it is still failing to hit targets.
Experts have warned it must catch at least 80 per cent of infections to ensure the spread of the virus is contained. A total of 27,125 people who tested positive for Covid-19 in England had their case transferred to the NHS Test and Trace contact tracing system during the first four weeks of its operation, according to figures from the Department of Health & Social Care.