More than 300 people who came into contact with a positive coronavirus case in Wiltshire in the past three and a half months were not reached by contact tracers, according to government data.

Figures from the Department for Health and Social Care show that between  May 28 (the day NHS Test and Trace was launched) and September 16, 968 people were identified as non-complex close contacts of people who had tested positive for coronavirus.

Of these, only 665 were successfully contacted, meaning 303, almost one third, failed to self-isolate.

Non-complex close contacts refer to cases contacted online or over the phone, not linked to potential outbreaks.

Figures from the government department also highlight the number of people transferred to the contact tracing system.

In Wiltshire, between May 28 and September 16, these totalled 414, 86 per cent of which were reached by contact tracers.

It means 59 people who contracted Covid-19 in the 16-week period did not self-isolate.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “NHS Test and Trace is providing tests at an unprecedented scale – 225,000 a day on average over the last week.

“We are continuing to reach the vast majority of positive cases and their contacts. The number of people testing positive this week has increased, with the service successfully reached 77.7 per cent of people who tested positive and 84.7 per cent of the contacts where communication details were provided.

“We also urge people across England and Wales to download the NHS Covid-19 app, which allows people to find out if they are at risk of having caught the virus and need to self-isolate, order a test if they have symptoms, and access the right guidance and advice.”