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The director of Test and Trace has said that she does not believe that “nobody expected to see a really large increase in demand” for coronavirus tests.
Baroness Dido Harding’s comments in front of the Commons Committee on Science and Technology come after some residents at COVID-19 hotspots complained that they were finding it difficult to get tested.
Several people said they were told the tests were only available hundreds of miles from where they live.
Greg Clark, a Conservative MP who chairs the committee, told Baroness Harding: “It is disheartening to find that we are now in September, in circumstances that are completely predictable: people go back to school, people go back to work, and we haven’t had adequate capacity during the quieter times of June, July and August. “
He added: “Clearly he didn’t prepare enough.”
Baroness Harding insisted that it had not been a quiet summer for the Test and Trace staff, but admitted: “We clearly do not have enough testing capacity.”
He also confirmed that key workers will be prioritized for coronavirus testing, and that teachers “are likely to be first on that list” so schools can “keep running.”
The conservative pair added that about 50% of the tests are reserved for hospital patients, social care staff and residents, and NHS workers, including GPs and pharmacists.
Baroness Harding partially blamed the large increase in demand on the reopening of schools, revealing that the number of children requesting tests has doubled and grew at an even higher rate among the five to nine year olds.
It confirmed that the current daily testing capacity is 242,817, although not all are being used.
The next target is 500,000 by the end of October, but Baroness Harding declined to say if that would be enough.
“I’m sure we will need more as we move beyond the end of October,” she said.
