Queue here for test fiasco
Pointless trips of 100 miles... deserted sites... another day in virus chaos UK
‘People didn’t know what was going on’ ‘We are really angry about this’
BRITAIN’S coronavirus testing descended into even deeper chaos last night as hundreds of people with appointments arrived at a centre to find an empty car park.
Drivers who made 100-mile trips to get swabs in Sunderland were left ‘extremely angry’ after finding no testing facilities or staff.
Furious families said ‘ heads should roll’ over the fiasco, which came just hours after it was announced that the city would be subject to tougher restrictions in a bid to tackle rising infection rates in the North East.
Meanwhile, other sites were near-empty. A member of staff at a testing centre at London’s Heathrow Airport – in a face mask and hi-vis jacket – appeared to nod off while waiting for patients to turn up to be swabbed.
Drivers who headed to the testing centre in Doxford Park in Sunderland initially reported being stuck in a two-mile queue – only to be turned around half a mile from the site by security guards. They were told: ‘The computers have crashed. You’ll have to book elsewhere or try again later.’
As hundreds of people continued to turn up for their appointments later in the afternoon they then found an empty car park with no infrastructure or staff – and an abandoned ‘Covid-19 Mobile Testing Unit’ sign.
HGV mechanic Brad Cockburn, 28, who made a 100-mile round trip from Bedale, North Yorkshire, said: ‘There’s no organisation, it’s a p***-poor performance as usual.’
He said his employer booked the test for him as he felt he had flu-like symptoms and he cannot work until he has got the all-clear. He added: ‘I took this afternoon off, unpaid, and I won’t be able to work tomorrow now. They’re supposed to put these things in place to get people working again. Now they’ve got all these people congregating here and nobody to test them.’
Colin Thompson, 59, from County Durham, travelled to the testing centre with his 15-year-old granddaughter, Sophie Littlemore.
He said: ‘Someone’s head should roll for this. If this was me or you we would get sacked. It’s absolutely diabolical. My daughter and my granddaughter have been waiting for four days to get a test.
‘When we got here the car park was about three quarters full but there was no one around to do the tests. People didn’t know what was going on. They were upset.
‘It’s ridiculous. You get fined for keeping them off school. They can’t have it both ways. The only thing we can do is go back home and try and book another test. By the time we finally get a test the quarantine period could well be over.’
Rob Reid, 58, a cash and carry manager from Sunderland, had booked a test for 3.45pm.
He said: ‘My concern is about my health and it comes across that the Government is not that concerned, when they are taking bookings on the NHS website and there’s nobody here to do it.’
Ashley Ronald, 29, and her children Chase, five, and Lucie, nine, travelled five miles from Seaham, to be tested. She said: ‘We had a slot booked for 3.30pm. The children have been sent home from school to be tested. Chase has been coughing.
‘I am very disappointed. They can’t go back to school until they have been tested. We are really angry about this. We have absolutely no idea what has happened and there is no one to speak to.’
A 65-year- old man, who didn’t want to be named, added: ‘My seven-year-old grandson has been sent home from school. He has a bit of a cough.
‘He can’t go back to school unless he gets the all clear. We have travelled around 50 miles to get here today and they have not even bothered to turn up. I am extremely angry. Someone needs to take control of this situation.’
Elsewhere in the country people trying to get tested were met with scenes of ‘absolute pandemonium’ and ‘chaos’ after a series of compubarcode ter glitches. People were turned away from centres in Kensington Olympia in west London and Lewisham in south London after failing to receive ‘QR codes’ – a square image that can be scanned by devices like smartphones – despite booking appointments.
Henry Bull, 29, said he cycled around five miles to his nearest testing site in Lewisham after booking an appointment online because he had a cough.
He said: ‘There was just absolute pandemonium, chaos. The entire junction is gridlocked with cars queuing to get into it, loads of car drivers getting out and shouting at each other to move out of the way.
‘Meanwhile, once you actually get to the site, nobody has received the QR code that you have to have to get tested.’ Mr Bull said there
were ‘lots of very angry people’, while one woman who had been queuing for four hours burst into tears after being told she would not be seen.
A Department of Health spokesman said: ‘There has been a spike in demand [for tests] in recent weeks and the message is clear – only people with symptoms should be requesting a test.
‘We’re doing everything possible to overcome this challenge – including by bringing in new labs that can process tens of thousands of tests a day, opening new test sites, and trialling new rapid tests that will give results on the spot.’