More fast Covid tests for region

TIER 3 areas such as Greater Manchester will get more community testing programmes to try and reduce the spread of coronavirus, the government has said.

Our region will be one of the areas to receive more than 1.6 million rapid turnaround lateral flow tests, says Health Secretary Matt Hancock.

He says it is hoped that these quick turnaround tests will allow areas in tier three to relax lockdown restrictions.

But concerns have been raised over the accuracy of such tests.

It comes as Greater Manchester leaders call for the region to be moved into tier two.

The Department of Health and Social Care said that in Oldham, which once had the highest infection rate in the country but is now just above the national average, increased access to rapid testing will initially focus on higher risk supported living settings, health and social care staff and schools and colleges.

In Lancashire, testing will be used at large manufacturing sites and at workplaces with more than 200 employees.

Mr Hancock said enhanced testing programmes following a pilot in Liverpool will be a ‘vital additional tool’ in finding asymptomatic cases.

But data released by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) suggested the rapid coronavirus tests rolled out in Liverpool missed around 51 per cent of all Covid-19 cases.

The Health Secretary said: “Community testing will be very important in helping the areas where levels of the virus are highest to drive down infection rates and ultimately will help areas ease tougher restrictions.”

Dr Susan Hopkins, senior medical adviser to NHS Test and Trace, defended the use of the tests, saying they had helped find Covid-19 infections in people without symptoms that would otherwise have been missed, helping to break chains of transmission.

She said people with a negative test were not being told they did not have the disease and added that testing would enable more family visits to care homes.

The government has said care home residents in all tiers would have the opportunity to receive visits before Christmas.

But Age UK has said many residents may not be reunited with their loved ones, as some care homes are worried about insurance issues and concerns about the accuracy of rapid-result tests.

Meanwhile, 15 more people have died from coronavirus in Greater Manchester’s hospitals. The region’s hospital death toll has risen to 3,915, latest NHS figures show.