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What’s the problem with coronavirus testing?
Many people with coronavirus symptoms have had trouble getting tested for the infection in recent weeks. Reports have emerged of people being asked to drive long distances to test centers, even when local test centers are silent. The problem is nationwide, with people in Manchester sent to test sites in Scotland and Leicester, people in Loughborough sent to Wales and others in Surrey sent to the Isle of Wight, despite the need to get on a ferry. Labor MP Helen Hayes said one of her constituents in south London was told to take a test in Fife, 355 miles away.
What went wrong?
Sarah-Jane Marsh, director of testing at NHS testing and tracing, said Tuesday that the problem was not a lack of capacity in the testing centers, but in the labs that process the swabs, which she described as “a critical pinch. “. period. “He added that more laboratories from the NHS, Lighthouse, universities and partners would be opened” imminently “to ease the pressure. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said it would take” a couple of weeks “to increase capacity and solve the problem in But Professor Alan McNally of the University of Birmingham, who helped establish the Milton Keynes Lighthouse Laboratory, said the explanation made no sense. “If people request tests and send them hundreds of miles, that It doesn’t suggest a lab problem, it suggests an access to a swab problem. It’s confusing. Why doesn’t anyone come out and tell us what the problem is? “
Why has this happened now?
Demand for testing has increased with loosening of lockdown restrictions, up 63% for testers for the first time since mid-June. More people are mingling socially and getting in touch with each other as stores, gyms and cafes open and people return to school and work. On Sunday, the number of people testing positive for coronavirus in the UK jumped 65% from the previous day’s figure of 2,988, with a similar number on Monday at 2,948.
Who gets the virus?
The increase in cases appears to be driven by those under 25, particularly “rich” young people between the ages of 17 and 21, Hancock said Monday. While younger people are less likely to die from the coronavirus, it can still have long-term health impacts, and an increase in cases among the young will inevitably spread infections to the older and more vulnerable people.
What is UK testability?
Overall, the UK has a stated capacity of approximately 250,000 virus tests per day, but this is based on several different ‘pillars’, which are divided into hospital tests for staff and patients, tests for those who develop symptoms in community, and other tests conducted as part of national surveillance programs. This month there have been substantially fewer tests, about 175,000, daily.
What is the robbery?
It is unclear what could be causing a testing bottleneck, given that the test numbers are within the UK’s stated capacity. Some scientists contacted by The Guardian complained that the Deloitte-run Lighthouse Labs network, which conducts community testing, is not being open about the difficulties they face and speculated that the problems may be due to a shortage of reagents needed for the tests. tests. personnel problems or overstatement of testability. The Department of Health and Welfare has been contacted for comment.
Are there other ways to test?
One procedure being tested involves testing pooled saliva samples. This could allow rapid mass testing for the virus because the saliva of hundreds of people can be tested at one time. If the result is negative, as is often the case, since only a small percentage of people have the virus, everyone who contributed saliva can be reasonably sure that they are free of infection. If the batch tests positive, everyone who supplied saliva would have individual tests to identify those infected.
