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The serious weaknesses of England’s coronavirus testing system have been exposed by data showing a sharp reduction in the number of people who test positive quickly.
In early September, before schools reopened, 63 percent of people in England who tested positive received their results at the end of the day after taking the test, according to data from the government’s Covid-19 control panel. .
But by Tuesday that number had dropped to just 8 percent.
Prompt processing of test results is key to stopping the spread of the virus because people who test positive can immediately self-quarantine, reducing the likelihood of infecting others.
The collapse in test speeds, which was first reported by statistician Chris Drake, comes amid a surge in coronavirus cases.
On Tuesday, half of those who tested positive in England had been tested at least three days earlier. For a quarter of the cases, the results took four days or more to arrive.
The delays are likely to increase further after the government’s decision to prioritize testing for NHS workers, patients and those in residences.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson acknowledged that in recent days there had been a sharp increase in demand for tests. “I think everyone can see in the last few days a colossal increase in the number of people who want tests and who want to determine if they have coronavirus,” he said.
He defended the government’s record, arguing that ministers and officials were trying to “meet demand at record speed” and that most people were able to access the evidence.
“Eighty-nine percent of those who undergo testing, in-person testing, get it the next day and we are working very quickly to respond to all testing requests we receive,” he said.
“We have carried out more tests than any other European country and that is why we can deliver tests as I say and deliver results in 80 percent of the cases in which we know the contacts.”
The widening gap between the date positive results were publicly reported and the dates tests were taken could be due to increasing delays in reporting to the government board. But the Health Department did not say such problems existed.
He said the latest figures from the NHS Test and Trace also showed a much faster turnaround time for “in-person” tests.
However, the NHS figures are out of date. They relate to the week ending September 2, when official data on positive tests also showed the system was working well. These statistics cited by Johnson also showed that the majority of the tests were not “in person” and the proportion of people who got tested the next day was just 44 percent of all coronavirus tests that week.
Health secretary Matt Hancock admitted Tuesday that the test system faced “operational challenges” that would take “weeks” to resolve.
The NHS admitted last week that response times for most tests, which are taken at satellite test centers or via home-delivered kits, were “getting longer” and it took an average of 80 hours to deliver a result, the double that of early July. .
Hancock admitted there was a shortage of testing, that the government had to prioritize people who worked in the healthcare system for testing, and that members of the public often had to travel miles to get tested.
This is now shown in daily data released by the government on the number of cases, which are increasingly reported as positive samples taken many days before being reported.
In an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Today program, former health secretary Jeremy Hunt defended the government’s track record in testing, but said the return of schools and office work had put pressure on the system.
“The root cause, and what is different between now and what happened in July and August, is that everyone is trying to get back to work and the children are in school,” he said. “What’s happening now is that if a person contracts the virus in an office, then the office manager is trying to get everyone in the office tested.”
Mr. Hunt recognized the importance of mass testing. “It’s totally reasonable when you have a virus that most people have no symptoms of. [of], so that people are very interested in getting tested as quickly as possible. “
When Labor Party’s Angela Rayner questioned the prime minister’s questions about the pay of care workers and the ability to prove within the sector, Johnson said the government was working hard to protect residents and household staff. care.
“We are concerned about infection rates within nursing homes, they have clearly dropped enormously since we introduced the £ 600 million care home action plan, tomorrow we will announce a new winter care home action plan “, said.
Johnson said the government wanted to see “a tightening of the rules governing the movement of workers from one nursing home to another, we want to make sure we protect nursing homes from more infections.”
