- Lancashire will benefit from increased testing of priority and high-risk groups – under the next stage of partnership between NHS Test and Trace and local Directors of Public Health
- Half a million rapid-turnaround tests to be sent out this week in a significant expansion of testing
- Increase in asymptomatic testing will help pick up more cases, stop the spread of the virus and support communities and critical industries
Antony Higginbotham has welcomed the news that Lancashire will benefit from the Government’s latest expansion of Covid-19 testing.
The Prime Minister has announced that 600,000 rapid-turnaround lateral flow tests will be sent out by NHS Test and Trace to local public health leaders this week – including in Lancashire
In total, tests will be issued to over 50 local health directors across England, as part of the next phase of the government’s plan to expand asymptomatic testing for Covid-19. Each area will receive an initial batch of 10,000 rapid tests as part of a new pilot to enable them to start testing priority groups.
As part of this offer, the Health Secretary has written to all upper tier local authority leaders, confirming that all local health directors will be offered a weekly allocation of rapid-turnaround tests, equivalent to 10 per cent of their population, building on existing partnerships between NHS Test and Trace and local leaders.
This innovative new testing technology – which is already being rolled out in Liverpool – can provide results within an hour without needing to be processed in a lab.
Proactively testing asymptomatic individuals will help identify those who unknowingly have the virus and enable those who test positive and their contacts to self-isolate, which can help drive down the R rate locally and save lives
Commenting, Antony said:
The only way we can beat this virus is through scientific advances not just with a vaccine, which we hope will come very soon from recent news, but through much quicker and mass testing.
On Monday night I spoke to the Health Secretary who confirmed that Lancashire is one of the areas that will benefit from these new rapid tests, with weekly deliveries of them, ensuring we can focus on areas where outbreaks are happening. And they are not only for those with symptoms, as the main testing sites are, but for asymptomatic people too.
That means we can find people who may not know they have the virus, get them self-isolating for a few days, and really bring down the spread. What we've seen in Liverpool is that this is having a really positive impact on bringing down the case rate too.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said:
Last week we rolled out mass testing in Liverpool using new, rapid technology so we can detect this virus quicker than ever before, even in people who don’t have symptoms. Mass testing is a vital tool to help us control this virus and get life more normal.
I am delighted to say 10,000 of these tests will now be sent out by NHS Test and Trace to over 50 directors of public health as part of our asymptomatic testing strategy. I want to thank all directors of public health for their support and efforts over the past months to help us tackle this virus, bring it under control and get the country back to what we love doing.