There is a significant shortage in the number of coronavirus tests available in the UK, meaning thousands of people are being left unchecked for the potentially fatal illness.
Cabinet minister Michael Gove spoke out about the situation, saying there is a lack of chemicals required for more tests to be made.
Diagnostics industry group BIVDA’s chief executive Doris-Ann Williams was reported by the Daily Mail as saying: “There is global demand and manufacturing capacity is being increased at pace along with the logistics to distribute it, but none of this can be achieved overnight.”
She added: “We can assure you that everything that can be done is being done.”
However, shadow health secretary Jon Ashworth noted that half a million people are being tested in Germany per week. Comparatively, only around 10,000 members of the public are being checked for symptoms per day in the UK.
Housing minister Robert Jenrik added fuel to the fire, telling BBC television that not all the ingredients required for testing are available in the country “in the quantities that we need”.
It is particularly important that tests are ramped up for NHS staff, as Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, claimed 15 per cent of this workforce is currently off, which is significantly greater than the three to four per cent that would be expected.
In addition to this, he noted that testing over the weekend revealed only 15 per cent of those who are self-isolating have Covid-19, with Mr Hopson added: “The other 85 per cent are potentially available to come back to work.”
The NHS needs as many of its employees working as possible at the moment, with cases increasing every day.
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