From queues to eerie quiet
BRITAIN’S Covid test shambles continued as hundreds of worried parents queued outside a centre in Southend, Essex, after trying and failing to book an appointment online.
Meanwhile, testing staff in Bolton, with the sixth highest infection rate in the UK, stood idle.
One said: “We have the kits available to test people but the booking system doesn’t appear to be working”. In Oldham, with the third highest infection rate, one care worker claimed staff told her they could not test her as they were “unable to turn the results around”.
In Cambridge there were reports of test centres at under-capacity while locals claim they are being sent to places such as Leicester – with the highest infection rate in the UK – and even Aberdeen. Many trying to book online are directed to a page saying: “This service is currently very busy. More tests should be available later.”
Bolton is one of four areas where infection rates are more than one in 100. We visited two testing centres in the town. Only four cars entered the Last Drop Village site in a 45-minute period, with around 15 vehicles pulling up in an hour at another town centre venue. One parent in Oldham said: “I’ve got a child who’s coughing. He’s had a high temperature. I’ve been trying online, for the last two days.
“I’ve got a message here that says ‘the system is currently unavailable’. That’s been the last two days.”
A spokesman for Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said: “When Greater Manchester is being hit harder by Covid than any other part of the country, it is not acceptable that people here cannot access a test locally.”