Ministers try to buy time on tests target
THE Government is seeking to buy more time to hit its testing target by saying the complete data may not be ready until next week.
The Prime Minister’s spokesman said yesterday it would be “difficult” to know if the 100,000-tests-a-day target had been hit by the Thursday deadline.
As part of an attempt to ramp up testing, yesterday one London NHS trust said all patients admitted to hospital would now be swabbed for the virus, including those admitted through A&E.
The latest daily testing figures showed 37,024 tests carried out on Sunday, up from 29,058 tests done in the 24 hours to 9am on Saturday.
Downing Street said the Saturday testing number was “under the old regime” and did not include home testing kits sent through an online portal set up for essential workers on Friday, or mobile testing units. It said the numbers had a “significant time lag”, usually seen after the weekend, and played down expectations that the data would show whether the Government had hit its target this Thursday.
Liz Kendall, the shadow health and social care minister, told The Daily Telegraph: “The promise was 100,000 actual tests done a day – not the capacity
for tests, or people being referred for tests. It was the actual number of tests done. The bottom line is – unless we have effective, swift mass testing, we’re not going to protect people who need care, and we’re not going to get out of the lockdown either. Getting this right is non-negotiable.”
More than a month ago, Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, committed to carrying out 100,000 tests a day by the end of April after criticism that the Government was too slow on testing.
The Prime Minister’s spokesman said it would be “difficult” to know even on Friday if the target was met.
“Home testing kits can take up to 72 hours to get the results for and therefore show up in the numbers,” they said. “It’s worth saying in advance therefore that it’s not going to be possible to tell on Thursday whether or not we have met the 100,000 target. It’s going to take a little longer.”
Meanwhile, a health minister pledged to investigate reports that some NHS staff had to wait 25 days to receive their test results. Last week Dr Richard Horton, The Lancet’s editor-inchief, said: “I have just been told of a front-line NHS worker who had a test for CV19 on March 31. They received their result today. It was positive. Just 25 days to make and pass on the diagnosis. This is simply not good enough.”
Edward Argar, the health minister, yesterday told LBC radio: “The test results should be within around 48 hours. There may be in some cases a scientific, clinical reason why a particular test doesn’t work or is delayed. But that is not something people should have to wait for.”