Nine- hour round trip for a Covid- 19 test
People trying to book a coronavirus test in Ayrshire have been told their nearest available centre is in Northern Ireland.
A ‘ major spike’ in demand for Covid- 19 testing saw First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announce three new mobile testing units and increased capacity at regional sites.
But worried residents trying to get tested were being sent up to Inverness or to Northern Ireland by the test booking system.
Last week the Post tested the system by attempting to book a test from a South Ayrshire postcode – to which we were told our nearest centre was in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, over 125 miles away and a mere four- and- a- half hour trek, each way.
The First Minister acknowledged the issues some people had faced when trying to book a test, saying these had occurred across the UK following a “major spike” in demand for testing.
NHS Ayrshire and Arran urged people to ‘ think’ before booking a test and Lynne McNiven, Director of Public Health, said: “Only people who are symptomatic need a test, unless you are explicitly asked to get a test by public health as part of the management of an outbreak.
“If you are contacted by our Test and Protect contact tracing team to tell you that you are a close contact of somebody with Covid- 19, you do not need a test, but you must isolate for 14 days.”
The First Minister announced that three new mobile testing units would be deployed in the central belt, with one opening in Glasgow last week.
Ms Sturgeon said: “We have always known that there will be fluctuations in demand for testing. That’s why we have contingency plans in place and these contingency plans are already being activated.”
The three new mobile testing units will increase capacity by between 1,200 and 1,500 tests per day. Eleven “walk- through” centres will also be introduced, adding capacity for another 3,000 tests per day. Ms Sturgeon added: “We will continue to implement these plans to further increase capacity as we head into winter,.”
Currently an average of about 14,000 Covid- 19 tests are being carried out each day in Scotland. In total more than 565,285 people in Scotland have been tested for coronavirus since the outbreak began.
Of these people: 20,478 were positive and 544,807 were confirmed negative.