[ad_1]
The “priority list” of who will get tested first for coronavirus was revealed today under a new government rationing plan.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock confirmed that “acute clinical care”, nursing home residents and NHS staff will be the first to get tested.
Teachers will also be on the list if they have symptoms, after that staff.
But no special priority is given to children, even though a large number were sent home from school in the first weeks back.
It comes after a surge in demand for tests and supply problems that have left desperate people unable to reserve a spot or have been told to travel hundreds of miles.
Ministers have admitted that the new “priority” list could mean that members of the general public are denied immediate testing, even if they have symptoms.
However, despite this, anyone with symptoms should continue to request a test.
(Image: NurPhoto / PA Images)
Hancock said, “We need to prioritize testing for those who need it most to save lives, protect the most vulnerable, and make sure our health and care services and schools can operate safely.
“Today we posted our list of where testing is prioritized, setting out how we will ensure testing is allocated where it is most needed.
“First to support acute clinical care, second to support and protect people in nursing homes, third for NHS staff including GPs and pharmacists, fourth for specific tests for outbreak surveillance and control studies, fifth for teachers with symptoms so that we can keep schools and classes open, and then the general public when they have symptoms, prioritizing those in high incidence areas. “
Hancock stressed that only people with one of the three main symptoms of the coronavirus – cough, fever, or loss of taste or smell – should be tested.
“The testing capacity that we have is valuable and together we must prioritize it for the people who need it most,” he told the House of Commons.
This news flash is being updated.
[ad_2]
