- The UK will next week roll out regular rapid testing for people with no Covid-19 symptoms, according to health secretary Matt Hancock.
- The community testing regime – expanded to cover all 317 local authorities – uses rapid lateral flow tests, which can return results in 30 minutes.
- Local councils are being encouraged to prioritise tests for those who cannot work from home during the lockdown.
- The health secretary said asymptomatic testing can help break transmission.
Regular rapid testing for people without coronavirus symptoms will be made available across England this week, reports BBC.
Rapid test to target asymptomatic cases
UK health secretary Matt Hancock announced that the lateral flow tests, which give a result in 30 minutes, will be used to target asymptomatic COVID cases in care homes, across the NHS, in critical infrastructure workplaces and food manufacturers.
The government has ordered 2m of the tests, which will arrive next Friday from Derby-based manufacturer SureScreen Diagnostics.
“Roughly one in three people with Covid-19 don’t display symptoms, meaning you can infect others unknowingly,” Hancock said.
He added, “This is why asymptomatic testing is so crucial in our fight against the virus, and why I’m so grateful to see the British diagnostics industry use their ingenuity and expertise in our shared purpose to protect our communities.”
Testing program to find positive cases
The government’s testing tsar Baroness Dido Harding added: “Lateral flow tests are playing an ever increasing role in our testing programme as we continue to expand testing to find positive cases amongst those without symptoms.“
“Having a British manufacturer provides greater certainty that we will be able to continue to grow our supply of these important tests.”
It comes as chief medical officer Chris Whitty writes that the NHS is two weeks from being overwhelmed.
The UK recorded another 59,937 cases yesterday and and another 1,035 deaths.
Overwhelming number of cases
Speaking to the BBC today, Hancock said: “The NHS is under very serious pressure – as the chief medical officer said it’s probably under the greatest pressure it ever has been.“
“That’s particularly true in some parts of the country, but frankly it’s true across the whole UK. The NHS has never needed everybody to do something than it does now and that is to stay at home,” he added.
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Source: BBC
