New rapid tests mean entire cities can be tested to halt outbreaks

ENTIRE cities will be tested for coronavirus to contain local outbreaks using on-the-spot tests that give results in just 90 minutes.

Starting next week, the tests will be routinely used to check hospital and care home staff and patients, but there are plans for more than a million tests a day by the time winter arrives.

Ministers believe the revolutionary tests, which can be processed by portable machines, will see off the danger of another national lockdown by enabling them to test everyone living in towns or cities where there is an out- break and swiftly isolating those who have the virus.

Until now, tests have had to be sent off to laboratories, often by post, where they then take a minimum of four hours to process, meaning a 24-hour turnaround time is the gold standard.

By processing results on the spot, much larger numbers can be tested much more quickly, allowing the swiftest possible action to contain outbreaks at source. The tests are likely to be used at airports to screen out people with coronavirus as they enter the country and could be used to cut quarantine times. Teachers will also be randomly tested to determine whether reopening schools in September has any effect on transmission rates.

The tests can also detect flu, so people with Covid-like symptoms will know whether they are suffering from the more common illness and can avoid self-isolating. It follows a successful pilot of the 90-minute tests in Southampton.

The tests, from Oxfordshire-based Oxford Nanopore, do not need scientific experts, so the Government can train lay people to operate as many machines as needed. The first batch of 450,000 will be available from next week.

From September, a Dna-based test, supplied by London-based Dnanudge, will be rolled out across NHS hospitals, with 5.8 million tests on order. It uses nose swabs and is already used in eight London hospitals. The Government has bought 5,000 of its diagnostic machines. Other rapid-turnaround tests are expected to be ordered from other firms. The new tests are on top of the 500,000 tests per day target the Government set for the end of October.

A senior Government source said: “This will enable us to massively ramp up testing. We can test entire towns or cities to prevent the need for wider lockdowns. If we had already had this when the outbreak happened in Blackburn, we could have tested everyone in Blackburn, contained the virus and avoided having to reimpose lockdown measures on neighbouring towns. The sheer number of tests will cut down quarantine for travellers because we will be able to test them on arrival and again at eight days, allowing them out of quarantine after 10 days.”

Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, said: “Millions of new rapid coronavirus tests will help us to break chains of transmission quickly. The fact these tests can detect flu as well as Covid-19 will be hugely beneficial as we head into winter.”

In pilot schemes, hospitals could test patients on arrival at A&E, in maternity and cancer wards to stop the spread of the virus among the most vulnerable.