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The demand for coronavirus testing is “significantly outpacing the capacity we have,” NHS Test and Trace head Baroness Harding told MPs.
She told the science and technology committee that going back to school meant that the demand for exams in England for under-17s had doubled.
He also acknowledged that the results were also taking “a little longer.”
But she said she was “very confident” of increasing capacity to 500,000 tests per day by the end of October.
“I am sure we will need more as we move beyond the end of October. We have plans to go beyond 500,000 a day,” Baroness Harding said, before adding that there was no formal target beyond that date. October limit.
The test and trace program has come under increasing pressure in recent days, with reports of people being unable to access tests or being directed to testing centers many miles away.
Figures released Thursday also showed response time for community testing was lengthening. Only a third of these tests returned in 24 hours in the week through September 9, compared with two-thirds the week before.
It comes as the UK reported another 3,395 confirmed coronavirus cases, and another 21 deaths were recorded within 28 days of a positive test.
The number of people who called 119 and visited the website to book tests was three to four times the number of tests available, Baroness Harding told the committee, though she said that may exaggerate the problem as some people repeatedly call. from different numbers.
Committee chair Greg Clark said it was “disheartening” that despite the “completely predictable” circumstances of the return to schools and offices, “we have not had adequate capacity.”
Baroness Harding said they built the testing capacity for this fall, which is now 242,817 per day, based on models from Sage’s scientific advisory group.
“I don’t think anyone expected to see the really big increase in demand that has occurred in the last few weeks,” he said.
In Sunderland, meanwhile, more than 100 people were left waiting in an empty parking lot where they said they had been reserved for Covid-19 testing, although there were no personnel or equipment there.
The Bolton City Council, which faces the highest levels of infection nationwide, said it was “incredibly frustrated” after problems with the national reservation system led to long lines and rejection of people with appointments.
Similar problems were reported in Lewisham, south London, where access to the center was “blocked”.
Baroness Harding said the tests were limited by the laboratory’s processing capacity and that they had to restrict the number of people in the centers because it would be “very dangerous” to send too many samples to the laboratory that would not be analyzed later.
An NHS Test and Trace survey showed that 27% of people seeking tests had no symptoms, but had only been in contact with an infected person. Tests should only be provided to members of the public with a continuous cough, high fever, or changes in the sense of smell or taste.
“We do not want to alienate people who are afraid,” said Baroness Harding. But she added that they must “protect the capacity we have for the people who need it most.”
Current priorities for testing are NHS patients, NHS staff, and nursing home residents and staff. Together, these represent 50% of the tests, he said.
After that, priority is given to areas with severe outbreaks. Baroness Harding said they were looking to place key workers afterwards, particularly teachers, “but the work is still ongoing.”
In other developments:
- Nearly two million people in northeast England will not be able to meet other households after midnight as coronavirus cases rise.
- Singapore and Thailand have become the last countries approved to travel without quarantine to England and Scotland since Saturday morning.
- About 100 sailors self-isolate aboard the Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth after “fewer than 10” crew members tested positive
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Nearly two-thirds of adults are now back in offices and other workplaces, according to the Office for National Statistics.
- Retailer Next has said the effect of the pandemic on business has been “expensive and miserable,” with work-at-home staff “brutalized” by boring online presentations.
- Parts of Wales under local lockdown face a “high risk” of increased hospital admissions and deaths, warned Public Health Wales.
- Scotland’s new contact tracing app has so far led to 100 people being told to self-isolate, Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon said.
- Approximately 600 pubs in Northern Ireland that do not serve food have been given the green light to reopen next week.
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