Health Secretary Matt Hancock today announced plans for a major rollout of Covid-19 rapid tests for people who cannot work at home during the lockout.
In an article for The Mail on Sunday, Mr Hancock says that while the vaccines represent the ‘cavalry’ in battle, the consolidation of testing as an ‘important tool in our fight was very difficult. against the virus’.
More than two million new ‘late streaming’ tests, carried out by British company SureScreen Diagnostics, will be available across England from this week.
The aim of the new tests, which will give results within 30 minutes, is to catch the ‘silent spreaders’ – one in three people who have no symptoms when they have the virus and are therefore unaware that they are infectious. .
Health Secretary Matt Hancock today announced plans for a major rollout of Covid-19 rapid tests for people who can’t work at home during the lockout
Only one in three of the 317 local authorities in England offer community-based tests for people who do not show symptoms. Tests are mainly aimed at emergency workers such as NHS staff.
Under the new plan, the test will be offered to all local authorities in England, and they will be asked to pass it on to anyone who has to leave home for work.
The Government is also working closely with the Welsh and Scottish administrations to carry out the tests.
The Army is expected to help with the beef program, as it already does with vaccines.
Mr Hancock says the approach promises to reduce the number of Rs – the rate at which the virus reproduces – by up to 0.6, ‘helping to break transmission chains and ‘life-saving’.
In his article, Mr Hancock says: ‘We need to use this lock to stop things from happening by locating so many people with the disease, and urging loneliness. total.
‘And we aim this pilot program at those who can’t work from home and have to leave home during a lockout, giving them another protection and helping us reduce emissions. the virus’.
More than two million new ‘late stream’ tests, carried out by British company SureScreen Diagnostics, will be available across England from this week
The Health Secretary, who carried out one of the tests in his office on Friday – and was found to be Covid negative – said: ‘If we do this, we know that 2021 will be a year of recovery, and a year when the this country is getting back on its feet once more ‘.
Regular large-scale tests are expected to have sparked fears among civil liberties that authorities could bar people from making necessary trips if they cannot produce documents. confirmation that they have passed a negative test – or that they have an ‘immune passport’ in the form of a vaccine certificate or proof of antibodies from Covid ‘s disease, which protects against the disease.
However, a source from the Department of Health said there were no plans to use the test plan for this purpose.
The source said: ‘We want local authorities to target the test on people who are unable to work from home during a lockout. They can ask for military support if they feel they need it. ‘
Derby-based SureScreen says it will deliver two million late-stream streaming tests by Friday, but estimates it could deliver more than ten times this number over the coming months.
Baroness Dido Harding, interim executive chair of the National Institute for Health Protection, said: ‘Late flow testing is becoming more and more prevalent in our testing program as we continue to expand testing to positive detection among those without symptoms.
‘Making a British manufacturer more confident will enable us to continue to grow our supply.’
MATT HANCOCK: A quick, easy and essential tool to help us get back to normal
By Health Secretary Matt Hancock for the Post on Sunday
We start 2021 knowing that vaccines are our way out of this pandemic. Amazing human ingenuity and scientific advances make it a matter of when, not if, we return to normal life, writes Matt Hancock (pictured)
We start 2021 knowing that vaccines are our way out of this pandemic. Amazing human ingenuity and scientific advances make it a matter of when, not if, we return to normal life.
The cavalry is here, thanks to our vaccination program. Across the UK we have already protected more people through vaccines than any other European country.
As we accelerate the vaccination program, we need to keep this virus under control. This is made more difficult by the new version, which spreads from person to person much more easily.
So along with the important work on vaccine distribution, we must not lose focus on our testing system, which we know is another important tool in our fight against this virus.
We know that by separating positive cases, tests can bring the R number down between 0.3 and 0.6 – helping to break transmission chains and save lives.
Since last autumn, we have been regularly testing our colleagues in health and social care and those working in emergency infrastructure, to provide them with peace of mind and to ensure that keep and their colleagues safe. Working with councils we have built community trials in the highest quality areas to help find more cases faster, and we now have over 400 sites in community centers, town halls and places of worship.
This focused approach has produced results, averaging more cases than the national average and allowing us to take a firm grip on the virus in a local area. Today I can announce that tests for the unmarked will be available everywhere in England, and we work closely with devolved administrations, so all parts of the UK can benefit from the work. this life-saver.
Tests are important because it helps us all find out who has the disease, thus breaking the transmission chains. This expansion comes at a time of crisis. We have recently had to introduce difficult but critical restrictions to deal with a new fully automated version of coronavirus. It is vital that everyone stays at home, unless there is a reason why they cannot.
But, of course, many key workers cannot work from home. People who keep vital services going cannot. So even in locking, there are test issues. We need to use this lock to stop things from happening by finding so many people with the disease, and to push for complete loneliness. And we aim this pilot program at those who can’t work from home and have to leave home during a lockout, giving them another protection and helping us reduce emissions. virus.
Many large employers are playing their part in this national endeavor as well, such as John Lewis and Tata Steel, which already conduct regular staff tests, along with the NHS and social care.
I want more of this quick test to be available to employers whose employees cannot work from home. I have asked NHS Test and Trace to work closely with other Government departments, employers and local authorities to make this happen.
This essential national infrastructure for testing will be so important as we reduce restrictions, so that we can use the confidence provided by proper testing to detect, limit and spread the virus and help us returning to normal life.
One of the biggest improvements in our testing program was the use of late streaming devices, which can raise infectious issues and reverse rapid results.
To date, most of these tests have been submitted from overseas, but we have now signed a contract with Derby-based SureScreen Diagnostics to run the first deliver agreed lateral flow tests conducted here in Britain. The tests are easy to take and give results in less than 30 minutes. I took one on Friday, and thankfully I was negative.
Two million of these rapid tests have already been performed, and will be used from this week.
This is good news for our country, not only because it allows us to convince more people, it also allows us to promote British industry and further develop the region. our world-leading life sciences. As we deliver our critical testing and vaccination programs, using the best human ingenuity to keep us safe in the long term, we all need to play our part and know the rules. which could control this new variant of the virus.
If we do this, we know that 2021 will be a year of recovery, and a year when this country will get back on its feet once again.