Pledge of 100,000 tests a day
Patients to be tested before NHS staff, says Hancock
THE HEALTH Secretary Matt Hancock has pledged that the Government will “strain every sinew” to beat coronavirus as he announced a dramatic increase in testing by the end of the month.
Mr Hancock, making his first appearance since emerging from self-isolation, yesterday paid tribute to NHS staff who had “made the ultimate sacrifice” and lost their lives after working on the frontline. And he promised healthcare workers would be first in line in a commitment to provide 100,000 tests for the virus a day by the end of April.
Speaking from 10 Downing Street Mr Hancock said: “If the past few weeks have shown us anything, it’s that we are steadfast as a country in our resolve to defeat this invisible killer.”
And he added: “I will stop at nothing to make sure that frontline staff have the right equipment so that they are safe and can have the confidence they need to do their jobs.”
He announced that, through a “five pillar” plan on testing, the UK was looking to carry out 100,000 tests per day by the end of the month. And he said by that deadline any NHS worker who believes they need a test will be able to access one. He said: “With 5,000 tested since (staff testing) started at the weekend we’ve clearly made significant progress.”
He added that large-scale antibody testing – to see if someone has been infected with the virus and recovered – will only be rolled out when clinicians are confident it is a valid test. He said: “No test is better than a bad test.”
And there was a “challenge” in ensuring the public could have “confidence” in the tests being used on NHS staff. He said a number of testing methods being analysed had “failed” to positively diagnose a coronavirus patient.
“In one case, a test that I’m being urged to buy missed three out of four positive cases for coronavirus.
“That means that in threequarters of cases, that test would have given the false comfort of sending someone with coronavirus back on the wards. Approving tests that don’t work is dangerous and I will not do it.”
It comes as the number of people who have now died from coronavirus in Yorkshire reached at least 162, with 2,921 deaths nationwide. The national total rose by 569 deaths in a day.
And it was confirmed by the NHS that Harrogate Convention Centre would become the latest Nightingale Hospital, with space for up to 500 extra patients.
Meanwhile Mr Hancock also defended his decision to prioritise testing of patients over NHS staff and said he thought any Health Secretary would have done the same.
He said: “I understand why NHS staff want tests, so they can get back to the frontline, of course I do.
“But I took the decision that the first priority has to be the patients for whom the results of a test could be the difference in treatment that is the difference between life and death. I believe anybody in my shoes would have taken the same decision.”
Mr Hancock outlined the order of testing prioritisation as being patients, then critical care staff, then NHS and social care staff more generally, then other key workers and finally the general population.
The announcement came after several days of intense scrutiny over failures in testing.
Mr Hancock said the UK lacked a large diagnostics industry so was having to build from a “lower base” than the likes of Germany, which is testing at greater levels for coronavirus.