‘High risk’ cabbies, cleaners and shop workers to get Covid tests

TENS of thousands of taxi drivers, cleaners and shop workers are to be tested for coronavirus amid fears they are spreading the disease.

Addison Lee, BT and Boots are among some of the firms whose staff will get tests even though they appear healthy. The Department of Health and Social Care said it will help scientists understand the prevalence of the virus in asymptomatic people in higher riskjobs. Scientists are divided over the extent to which asymptomatic carriers of Covid-19 are infectious.

Each of the partner businesses will have access to 10,000 tests, either in the form of home delivery kits or through a mobile testing unit.

The announcement could pave the way for routine systematic testing of staff in high-risk occupations.

The study will also target geographical areas thought to be high-risk, working with local authorities in Bradford, Oldham, Brent and Newham.

These will operate by walk-in test sites. The announcement comes as the weekly statistics for the flagship Test and Trace service revealed that the proportion of close contacts of people who have tested positive for the disease fell again.

In the week ending July 1, 70.8 per cent were successfully reached and advised to self-isolate, compared with 74.2 per cent the previous week. Officials say this is because, with the easing of lockdown, people who test positive are tending to provide higher numbers of close contacts.

Overall, 31,421 people who tested positive for Covid-19 in England had their case transferred to the NHS Test and Trace contact-tracing system during the first five weeks of its operation, the figures also showed. Of this total, 23,796 people (76 per cent) were reached and asked to provide details of recent contacts, while 6,645 (21 per cent) were not reached.

A further 980 (three per cent) could not be reached because their communication details had not been provided.

The figures cover the period May 28 to July 1.