COVID TESTING – WHY HAS IT STALLED?
The Welsh Government says there are a number of factors as to why test numbers in Wales have plateaued over recent weeks. Health correspondent Mark Smith reports
DESPITE having capacity for around 15,000 tests each day, Wales is consistently only making use of a fraction of them.
The Welsh Government launched its ‘Test, Trace, Protect’ strategy on June 1, which placed a greater focus on community testing as lockdown measures started to be eased.
Many people anticipated a significant rise in daily tests being carried out either at home, at drive-through facilities or in healthcare settings.
But the increase appears to have stalled at around the 3,000 mark for the past few weeks, with 3,054 tests being carried out on Sunday.
By comparison, there were 4,042 carried out exactly a month earlier on June 5. This remains the highest amount of tests in a single day.
Between June 14 and 21, only 2,885 tests on average per day were carried out in Wales. And the following week, between June 21 and 28, the figure stood at 3,181, both of which are under 25% of the total testing capacity.
But the Welsh Government has stressed there are a number of factors as to why test numbers have plateaued over recent weeks.
It said current testing levels are simply reflecting the numbers who are symptomatic and coming forward for one. It added that anyone who wants a test can now get one, but that demand is not growing.
Out of nearly 7,000 tests done in last 24 hours, there were only 17 positives which the Welsh Government claims demonstrates that the prevalence of the virus in Wales is diminishing.
The Welsh Government also admitted that it is boosting capacity ahead of a possible spike in cases in the autumn.
A spokesman said: “The scale of testing capacity to support our Test, Trace, Protect strategy is unprecedented and we have significantly expanded testing capacity in Welsh laboratories to be able to process more than 15,000 tests a day.
“This work sits alongside our efforts to capitalise on broader UK lab capacity to support on-going public and key worker testing.
“Testing capacity is an important part of our planning for autumn and we must also be able to respond to any sudden or unexpected increase in the need for testing, for example in response to local outbreaks, and this extra capacity will enable us to do so.”
The British Medical Association (BMA) Cymru has called on the Welsh Government to make use of this additional unused capacity by routinely testing all frontline NHS staff – regardless of whether they are showing symptoms.
As plans are discussed to resume routine services, doctors claim these workers need to be routinely tested themselves to prevent further spread.
All care home residents and staff are being tested weekly at present, but the same cannot be said for hospitals or GP surgeries.
“At the beginning of the pandemic, the World Health Organisation said the response to the pandemic needed ‘testing, testing, testing’, and this remains the case,” said Dr Phil Banfield, chairman of the BMA’s Welsh Consultants Committee.
“If we want ‘normal’ NHS services to resume, this is a sensible approach to ensure doctors can continue to offer the best care, whilst ensuring the safety of themselves and their patients.
“As people are brought back to ‘Covid light’ areas for treatment, unless asymptomatic staff are also tested, there’s the chance they could pass the virus onto patients.”
As around one in three negative Covid-19 tests are incorrect and are, in fact, positive, Dr Banfield said patients need to be tested more than once to minimise the risk of error.
“We must continue to take precautions when a negative result is received,” he addd.
“While there’s uncertainly about whether there will be a second wave of Covid-19, the best way to mitigate against this is to start with our healthcare workers, who are dealing with patients, in close contact, day in, day out.”
Dr Banfield, a GP based in Rhyl, also called for the test results to be returned more quickly.
He said: “Delays in test results being returned need to be addressed urgently, along with antibody testing, even if this is a one-off occurance.
“We need to know that doctors who are in close contact with patients are not carrying and spreading the virus unnecessarily, while getting doctors back into work as safely as possible after self-isolating.”
He also called for “real-time data” to be published on the number of tests being carried out at a much more local level, to enable the public and healthcare workers to have confidence that their NHS is safe to access.
“This will enable those with the greatest clinical priority to receive the care they urgently need,” he said.
Both Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Conservatives have also called for daily testing numbers to be improved up as capacity to do so increases.
Welsh Conservatives health spokeswoman Angela Burns MS said: “Despite repeated assurances that testing would be ramped up, the sad reality is that the Welsh Government has failed to do so which is nothing short of a scandal.
“It is also pivotal is that the Welsh Government allows people who need a test – especially our hardworking healthcare workers – convenient and easy access to one.
“Shockingly, in the last two weeks of June less than 1,000 healthcare workers had a Covid-19 test in Wales.
“The Welsh Government must stop at nothing to swiftly address the current testing fiasco which they have created.”
Plaid’s Shadow Health Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth also stressed that routine asymptomatic testing could be extended to more health and care workers, as well as workers in other key or vulnerable areas such as food processing.
He said: “Testing is such a core part of any successful battle against Covid-19, surely we need a strategy to make the greatest use possible of the testing capacity we have. That capacity was too slow being built up, but now that we have it, it should be used.
“What I’d like to see is a clear strategy on using that capacity in the best possible way. It needs to have a clear objective, but with flexibility build in, so capacity can be shifted to respond to new outbreaks.”
The Welsh Government said it will shortly be publishing a revised Covid-19 testing plan which focuses on delivering a “whole system approach” to testing in Wales, including the future use of asymptomatic antigen testing.
“At present NHS testing capacity is routinely and strategically utilised by health boards to test asymptomatic frontline staff in hospital settings as part of infection prevention and control measures,” the spokesman added.
Speaking during his press conference on Monday, First Minister Mark Drakeford said: “There is room to do more testing where that is required. We remain in conversations with the BMA and others about making the best possible use of that testing.
“At the height of the pandemic, 45% of call tests carried out were positive. We are carrying out far more tests than we were at that point, but the percentage of positive tests has fallen to 3.5%.
“So it’s important to use your tests carefully, to focus where the need is greatest.”