In England’ worst hit hotspot area, people were told that none were available
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Shambles for those who are trying to get tested for Covid-19 in the England’ s worst hit hotspot area. These people were told that no test were available at walk-in centres, drive-through facilities or for home delivery.
One of the official said that in these places there was capacity and swabs available at testing centres. However that a backlog in laboratories meant people were being told that no tests were available.
Nicola Sturgeon accused Matt Hancock of trying to restrict the number of people in Scotland who could get tested as the system was overwhelmed with demand. Scotland’s first minister said Hancock wanted to limit the number of slots available for testing in Scottish mobile and regional test centres.
Scottish counterpart, Jeane Freeman “managed to avoid that happening” during talks over the weekend. Sturgeon and Vaughan Gething, the Welsh health minister, expressed serious concerns about the testing backlog.
There are reported that ministers have previously promised to prioritise testing in Covid hotspots but people trying to book swab tests in the worst-hit areas were told on Monday that it was impossible. The issue covered Bolton, Salford, Bradford, Blackburn, Oldham, Preston, Pendle, Rochdale, Tameside and Manchester.
Some problems are that local authorities who apparently didn’t say that walk-in centres were now appointment-only, a change that seems to have happened without notice on Friday. Not only that, but three walk-in centres in Oldham began turning people away at the weekend if they had not booked, including symptomatic children.
More issue happened in Bolton on Saturday when a mobile testing unit failed to turn up. It left dozens of people waiting for hours in a car park before being sent home without a test, leaving the council to apologise.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said, “It is wrong to say testing is not available in these areas, and our capacity continues to be targeted where it is needed most. Whilst we are seeing significant demand, over a million tests are being processed every week, with around 200,000 every day on average over the last week.”
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