Want a Covid test? You may have to go 75 miles away (but it used to be 150!)

HEALTH chiefs have imposed a limit on how far patients should be sent for a coronavirus test – with a generous maximum of 75 miles.

The move follows an investigation which found those arranging tests online were being invited to drive for several hours for a swab.

One patient in Devon was told to head to Carmarthen in South Wales – some 109 miles away. Another, from London, was told to go to Cardiff – 150 miles away.

The BBC found another Londoner was offered a slot on the Isle of Wight while a patient in Cumbria was advised to travel 50 miles to Dumfries in Scotland.

Health officials blamed the problem on IT hiccups, having set up the booking system very quickly. They have now introduced a 75-mile limit – but this could still mean a three-hour round trip for patients who may feel

‘Demand has increased’

seriously unwell. Officials stressed that dedicated testing centres were just one ‘option’, with home testing kits also available online.

The long journeys suggested by the IT system are believed to be a result of the Government focusing its efforts on areas with high infection rates, as well as care homes. This means places deemed low-risk have fewer slots available.

Schools in England have now been warned not to send pupils for testing unless they have coronavirus symptoms, following a ‘huge increase’ in requests north of the border after pupils returned to schools last month.

Demand for tests soared by 300 per cent – but just two new cases were identified.

Public health officials fear common colds, likely to spread as more children return to the classroom, could be mistaken for coronavirus – putting more strain on the testing system.

A joint letter from Public Health England and the NHS said: ‘We want to avoid a similar surge in test demand as England’s schools and colleges return, to ensure that we continue to prioritise our testing capacity for those with symptoms and to avoid children, students and their families self- isolating unnecessarily.’ The three main symptoms of Covid are high temperature, a new, continuous cough, or the loss or change of sense of taste or smell. Pupils or staff members should only be tested if they develop ‘ one or more’ of these, the letter stated.

Capacity will, however, receive a major boost with a sixth ‘Lighthouse Lab’ to analyse results. The Department for Health announced a new site in Loughborough, Leicestershire, will follow others across England, Scotland and Wales.

A Government source said the 75-mile limit would be in place by today. They also claimed that closer slots became available throughout the day.

It came as figures showed the NHS test-and-trace scheme has recorded its worst results since its launch in May. Following a positive test for the virus, just 69.4 per cent of the infected patient’s close contacts were told to self-isolate for 14 days according to the latest data covering the end of last month. This was down from 77.1 per cent the previous week.

Dido Harding, appointed by the Government to oversee the test-and-trace scheme, stressed that it had ‘consistently reached the majority of those testing positive and their contacts’.

Baroness Harding added: ‘As the service has become part of our everyday lives, demand for testing has increased... we continue our efforts to build and scale testing capacity to reach 500,000 tests per day by the end of October by making use of new tests, new labs and new technology.’