New Wales testing strategy will focus on four key areas
HEALTH minister Vaughan Gething has unveiled the Welsh Government’s new coronavirus testing strategy.
The revised approach “builds on the latest scientific evidence” and sets out how testing will take place as Wales emerges from lockdown. It also makes preparations for a possible second wave of the virus in the autumn.
Mr Gething said the strategy focuses on four areas: ■ Contact tracing - to prevent the spread of the disease among the wider population and understand how it spreads from one person to the next. ■ Delivering NHS services - to support the safety of staff and patients. ■ Protecting vulnerable groups - to safeguard groups at greater risk.
■ Developing future delivery - to use surveillance and new technologies to improve our understanding of the virus.
Mr Gething said that Wales had now developed an “effective testing system that stretches the length and breadth of Wales”.
“This means that if you need a test, you can get a test. Quickly and easily.”
Since mid-june, all care staff have been tested for coronavirus on a weekly basis, which has shown the prevalence of the virus in care homes to be low.
The minister said Wales would continue to test care home staff on a weekly basis for a further four weeks.
“If low prevalence trends continue during this period, we will move to a fortnightly regime for antigen testing,” Mr Gething added.
Most recent figures show there have been 28,763 tests on care home residents, with 95.6% returning negative. Only three residents tested positive in the last week.
Meanwhile, face coverings in Wales will be compulsory on all forms of public transport from July 27. However, Mr Gething admitted it was far from straightforward to apply this rule in other settings such as shops.
He said there were issues with enforceability and questioning people who were not wearing them.
“Face coverings are the last tier of measures to take, in the sense of protecting all of us. It still starts by following that social-distancing guidance. It’s much more important than wearing a face covering.
“A face covering won’t protect you if you’re bumping along with other people instead of observing social distancing.”
Mr Gething also confirmed that there had been particular issues with testing at a lab in Manchester which serves a big part of north Wales. He said this technical issue had a “material impact” on the turnaround times of tests in Wales.
The minister confirmed the Welsh Government was looking at how to speed up testing, and would have to make some choices, including looking at staff numbers in labs.
Finally, Mr Gething added that more than 30,000 people had taken an antibody test, with a particular focus on healthcare and education staff.
It will also be rolled out to social care and domicilliary staff.
“We think we are going to have a ‘point-of-care’ test in the nearer future that’s been trialled in Cardiff and Vale health board area,” he said. “It’s a lateral flow device test, which basically means you can do it on something more like a pin prick rather than the need to have someone take a syringe of bloods. It’s a much less invasive test.”
The minister said the antibody test was telling them about how far the virus had spread and how many people had actually had it.