Drive to send out 900,000 test kits each day
TWICE as many Covid tests will be delivered every day to cope with unprecedented demand, it was announced last night.
The drive to post more home-test kits was revealed on the third day that the Government has paused online orders of lateral flow devices.
About 400,000 kits have been sent out each day this week after the emergence of the fast-spreading Omicron variant.
Officials paused new orders on Monday, blaming distribution problems rather than a shortage of tests.
Under an agreement with Royal Mail they now hope to double capacity to 900,000 daily deliveries of home-testing kits, including PCR and lateral flow devices, from Saturday.
And high street chemists, who were reported to have run low of stocks this week, will be able to order 10.5 million tests a week, almost double the current maximum of 5.5 million.
The test shortages raised fears that close contacts of Covid sufferers would be forced to stay home. Under new rules, they can take daily tests instead of isolating.
As well as the boost to home-testing, more appointments will be opened up for PCR tests at walk-in sites. High demand meant there were no
‘Vital we all play our part in national effort’
spare slots anywhere in England at one stage on Tuesday. Appointments were also scarce in London and across south-east England yesterday.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid said last night: ‘I’m delighted that Royal Mail is expanding our distribution service which will mean over 900,000 PCR and LFD [lateral flow device] test kits can be delivered to homes across the country every single day.
‘It’s vital we all play our part in the national effort to tackle Omicron by getting tested if we have symptoms and using LFDs daily if we’re a close contact of a case.’
Dr Jenny Harries, chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency, added: ‘This huge operational effort will mean that almost one million people will benefit from ordering Covid-19 tests directly to their homes, every day.
‘I want to thank everybody at the Royal Mail for their incredible response helping us deliver this massive effort at their busiest time of the year.’