England’s Covid-19 test and trace system has not yet proven its worth as there is little evidence of its overall effectiveness, the British parliament’s Public Accounts Committee said, decrying the “unimaginable” costs of the programme.

The Public Accounts Committee said that Test and Trace had cost 23 billion pounds ($32 billion) so far but had not achieved a key goal of avoiding a cycle of national lockdowns.

“Despite the unimaginable resources thrown at this project Test and Trace cannot point to a measurable difference to the progress of the pandemic,” chair of the committee, opposition Labour party lawmaker Meg Hillier said.

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