Weekly testing for everyone in UK if trials succeed, says Hancock
WEEKLY Covid testing for everyone is to be piloted in the hope it can get Britain back to “a more normal way of life”.
Offices, shops, schools and train stations will begin offering “on the spot” tests, as part of a £500million trial aiming to restore activity in Britain’s “ghost towns”.
The trials will be first offered in parts of the North West with high levels of the virus, and in a number of schools in the south. If successful, schemes will be rolled out across the whole population, with businesses expected to contribute towards the costs.
The plans aim to achieve a massive expansion in testing capacity before winter, in an attempt to prevent spikes in Covid-19, and allow workplaces to function more normally. Trials of 20-minute tests will also be rolled out which could be used before workers enter offices, or prior to entering stations, shopping centres, or other busy locations.
Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary said: “We need to use every new innovation at our disposal to expand the use of testing, and build the mass testing capability that can help suppress the virus and enable more of the things that make life worth living.
“We are backing innovative new tests that are fast, accurate and easier to use that will maximise the impact and scale of testing, helping us to get back to a more normal way of life.”
From today, mass community testing will be piloted first in parts of Salford, Greater Manchester, one of the areas under lockdown.
At first, the scheme will focus on central parts of the city, such as shops, transport hubs.
It will then be expanded across the city, and if successful will be used nationally.
Health officials said the scheme aimed to test people in as many locations as possible.
Government sources said that while the national plans were backed by £500 million of taxpayers’ money, businesses were expected to contribute towards weekly testing, as it would help them restore normality to the workplace.
Meanwhile, more than 2,000 pupils and staff in Southampton will begin getting weekly tests within days. The pilot scheme will run at four schools, as part of efforts to trial mass testing in educational settings.
The Salford and Southampton schemes will see those tested getting their results in about 24 hours. But a separate pilot across Hampshire, providing results in as little as 20 minutes, will also form part of the trials, which will be go nationwide if successful.
Under the schemes, all positive results will be passed to the NHS test and trace system, to track down contacts and prevent onward transmission.
However, government sources said the £500million investment would not cover airport testing, with the aviation industry expected to foot the bill for swabs which allow Britons to travel abroad more freely.
Baroness Harding, the interim executive chairman of the National Institute for Health Protection, said: “New testing technologies and methods are vital to keep the system evolving and improving, especially as we assess how routine testing could help pick up cases of the virus earlier.
“We will continue to scale up our testing capacity by expanding our network of testing sites and investing in new technologies to reach even more people through NHS test and trace.
“I urge everyone to use NHS test and trace to help everyone get back to a more normal way of life. If you have symptoms, book a test immediately, and if you are contacted by the service, follow the advice you receive.”
‘We are backing new tests that are fast, accurate and easier to use that will maximise the impact and scale of testing, helping us to get back to a normal way of life’
‘New testing technologies and methods are vital to keep the system evolving and improving especially as we assess how routine testing could help pick up cases earlier’