Test and trace, according to the leaked minutes of Sage’s meeting on 21 September, has had a ‘marginal’ impact on the infection rate of Covid-19. But let no one say it has not achieved anything. It has succeeded in the virtually impossible: making HS2 look relatively good value for money. Documents revealed to Sky News have shown that consultants from the Boston Consulting Group who have been working on the scheme have been paid day rates of up to £7,360 – which if annualised would work out at a salary of £1.5 million. It makes them the highest-paid public sector workers in the country, earning ten times as much as the Prime Minister. It also put into the shade the daily rates of Deloitte, who were revealed last week to have a thousand employees working on test and trace, being paid up to £2,360 a day.
In all, test and trace has so far cost the taxpayer £12 billion.
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