Public health chiefs and Royal Mail bosses have today announced plans to double the amount of lateral flow and PCR test deliveries in a bid to tackle the Covid test supply crisis.
Just hours after Transport Secretary Grant Shapps blamed ‘distribution issues’ for millions of Britons being unable to order testing kits, the UK’s Health Security Agency (UKHSA) announced it had struck a deal with the postal service to ramp up testing kit deliveries.
The agency says it plans to increase capacity of home delivery of lateral flows and PCR tests to 900,000 a day after what it described as a ‘week of unprecedented demand’.
Pharmacies will also be able to access 10.5 million lateral flow tests per week, an increase of 5.5 million tests per week, while booking slots for PCR testing sites will also increase by up to 100,000 per day from tomorrow.
It comes as Boris Johnson’s testing system collapsed yesterday with no free NHS PCR tests available anywhere in England, while lateral flow tests were still out of stock online for the second day running for everyone in the UK.
The Government’s Plan B relies on rapid and regular testing to avoid mandatory quarantine
But – with the Prime Minister set to update the country tonight on the situation with the Omicron variant – critics fear the crisis could lead to more restrictions or even a post-Christmas lockdown.
Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid today said he was ‘delighted’ with plans to upscale Covid test deliveries.
He said: ‘Our testing programme is the biggest in Europe and we know that demand for tests is growing further with the arrival of the Omicron variant.
On the plans to upscale the number of tests available, Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid said: ‘Our testing programme is the biggest in Europe and we know that demand for tests is growing further with the arrival of the Omicron variant.’
Just hours after Transport Secretary Grant Shapps blamed ‘distribution issues’ for millions of Britons being unable to order testing kits, the UK’s Health Security Agency (UKHSA) announced it had struck a deal with Royal Mail (pictured: Library image) to ramp up testing kit deliveries
Instead he said the issue had been getting the tests out to people. Mr Shapps said health chiefs were working with Royal Mail, Amazon and other delivery firms to get tests out to homes and pharmacies
‘I’m delighted that Royal Mail is expanding our distribution service which will mean over 900,000 PCR and LFD test kits can be delivered to homes across the country every single day.
‘It’s vital we all play our part in the national effort to tackle Omicron by getting tested if we have symptoms and using LFDs daily if we’re a close contact of a case.’
It comes as Mr Shapps today blamed ‘distribution issues’ on the lack of lateral flow tests after delivery slots on the Government’s website run out and pharmacies were told they couldn’t have extra swabs.
Mr Shapps claimed there are enough lateral flow tests to go around – despite the Government’s own website yesterday saying there were ‘no tests available to order for home delivery’.
In an uncomfortable interview with Sky News, Grant Shapps claimed there are enough lateral flow tests to go around – despite the Government’s own website saying there were ‘no tests available to order for home delivery’
But he said the issue had been getting the tests out to people. Mr Shapps said health chiefs were working with Royal Mail, Amazon and other delivery firms to get tests out to homes and pharmacies.
Squirming as he answered a question from Sky New’s Kay Burley, he said: ‘Just on lateral flow tests, which actually, uniquely, in that as far as I can see there aren’t other countries that have been supplying these free of charge to their citizens, major economies haven’t generally been doing this, and we have in this country, you are right, particularly since the new measures, the booster programme, asking people to be testing, came in, it can be difficult at different times of day to get those.
Mr Shapps went on to say: ‘I did notice yesterday actually that at certain times of day you could get them, they are coming back in.
‘There’s plenty of supply in the country, what we are having issues with is the distribution route.
‘And I know my colleagues at the health department are working with Amazon and Royal Mail and others to try and make sure that distribution gets out and still goes to pharmacies.’
The new chaos came on the last day Britons can test positive for coronavirus and be out of quarantine for Christmas Day. Those testing positive today will now have to isolate on Christmas and New Year’s Day.
This morning the Government’s website showed that both lateral PCR tests are now available to people in England.
The UK Health Security Agency said yesterday that 1.6 million Covid tests were taken and 230,000 boxes of home testing kits sent out across England on Monday.
Experts said the shortage of tests doesn’t ‘bode well’ when Boris Johnson predicts a ‘huge spike’ of cases within days, piling even more pressure on the UK’s testing system.
UK Health Security Agency sources told the BBC the shortage ‘was due to exceptionally high demand’.
Downing Street yesterday insisted there is significant testing capacity despite suggestions of difficulties finding PCR tests.
A spokesman said: ‘Appointments for PCR tests are available, but high demand can lead to temporary reduced availability in some areas. More appointments are made available to book every afternoon.
‘Testing is playing an integral role in keeping people safe and managing the virus and we’re so grateful to everyone that’s getting tested to protect themselves, their loved ones and their communities. Everyone with symptoms or who is directed to get a PCR test should continue to come forward to get a test delivered to their home or at a test site.’
The NHS’ website showed no PCR tests available in all of England yesterday. Tests returned this afternoon but are still in short supply
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: ‘In terms of PCR availability, I don’t have the latest but I would envisage further booking possibilities will come online later and, of course, there are in-person opportunities as well.’
It came as millions of Britons told to use daily lateral flow tests to slow the spread of Omicron from today still can’t get them online for the second day running with Amazon now brought in to bail out Royal Mail in the run up to Christmas.
Greenwich Council’s Labour leader Danny Thorpe, whose borough has one of the highest Omicron rates in the country, tweeted: ‘Residents had issues getting a #LateralFlowTest & today it looks like no #PCR tests available? @sajidjavid – what on earth is going on? This really needs sorting today’.
NHS staff working in hospitals, mental health properties, care homes and GP surgeries have also said they cannot get tests – stopping them doing their jobs – because they are also being told to use the same website as the public.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: ‘In terms of PCR availability, I don’t have the latest but I would envisage further booking possibilities will come online later and, of course, there are in-person opportunities as well.’
It came as millions of Britons told to use daily lateral flow tests to slow the spread of Omicron from today still can’t get them online for the second day running with Amazon now brought in to bail out Royal Mail in the run up to Christmas.
Greenwich Council’s Labour leader Danny Thorpe, whose borough has one of the highest Omicron rates in the country, tweeted: ‘Residents had issues getting a #LateralFlowTest & today it looks like no #PCR tests available? @sajidjavid – what on earth is going on? This really needs sorting today’.
NHS staff working in hospitals, mental health properties, care homes and GP surgeries have also said they cannot get tests – stopping them doing their jobs – because they are also being told to use the same website as the public.
Meanwhile, Health Secretary Sajid Javid told MPs that even if Omicron turned out to be less severe than the Delta variant, the fact it spreads so easily meant ‘it still has the potential to overwhelm the NHS’.
He told Ministers that modellers believe Omicron cases may already be running at ‘200,000 a day’ and ‘doubling every two to three days’. However, some experts have cast doubt on the figure, which is far higher than the official Covid total and which is based on disputed mathematical modelling. Downing Street insisted the projection was ‘valid’.
England’s chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty warned the Cabinet during an update yesterday that the new Omicron variant was spreading ‘unbelievably fast’.
Prof Whitty also warned Ministers that astronomical infection rates will spark staff shortages in pubs, restaurants and shops – sparking concerns of a repeat of the so-called ‘pingdemic’ that led to the shutdown of whole swathes of the economy over the summer.
He also said the wave would trigger a ‘significant increase in hospitalisations’. Scary Government modelling predicted that hospital admissions could exceed levels seen during the January lockdown, when 4,000 infected patients were needing medical care every day. In response, NHS bosses yesterday ordered hospitals to discharge as many patients as possible off wards and into care homes.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the Cabinet on Tuesday that a ‘huge spike in Omicron is coming’ and warned a ‘huge spike’ in the variant was coming. Public health officials warned that restrictions could last up to eight weeks.
Omicron has become dominant in London, with the capital’s Covid infection rate spiralling by 55 per cent in two weeks to 537 cases per 100,000 people – the highest level since January, when stringent curbs were in place. Hospitalisations have risen by 50 per cent over the same period, from 90 to 140 admissions a day.
Though deaths are currently flat, it can take up to a month for fatalities to start rising due to time it takes to fall seriously ill.
However, the first major real-world study of the variant – conducted in South Africa – has found that Omicron is causing a third fewer hospital admissions than the Delta variant. The study also found that just two doses of the Pfizer vaccines provides 70 per cent protection against severe illness.
Yesterday new restrictions were approved in Parliament on Tuesday evening, including the requirement to wear face coverings at more indoor spaces in England, and the introduction of NHS Covid passes for access to nightclubs and large venues.
‘Looks like Christmas in isolation for me’: Devastated Britons reveal their festive plans have been left in tatters after testing positive for Covid 10 days before December 25
Britons across the country today revealed their disappointment at having to spend Christmas Day in isolation this year after testing positive for Covid-19, meaning they must stay at home for the next ten days.
People tweeted pictures of positive lateral flow tests and said they were ‘feeling sorry for myself’ and ‘Merry Xmas to me’, amid claims more than 1million people are likely to be isolating with Covid on their own on December 25.
According to official estimates, the speed at which the Omicron variant is spreading means that four times more people are likely to be isolating with Covid this Christmas than last December 25, when household mixing was banned across much of the country and a third national shutdown was imminent.
Anyone becoming ill from today onwards will still be in the required ten-day isolation period on Christmas Day.
Yesterday there were more than 4,700 confirmed Omicron cases, and Ministers claim the number is doubling every two days. At this rate, almost 100,000 people will be confirmed with Omicron on Christmas Eve, and around 1million will be isolating the next day.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid told MPs that even if Omicron turned out to be less severe than the Delta variant, the fact it spreads so easily meant ‘it still has the potential to overwhelm the NHS’.
He told Ministers that modellers believe Omicron cases may already be running at ‘200,000 a day’ and ‘doubling every two to three days’. However, some experts have cast doubt on the figure, which is far higher than the official Covid total and which is based on disputed mathematical modelling. Downing Street insisted the projection was ‘valid’.
England’s chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty warned the Cabinet during an update yesterday that the new Omicron variant was spreading ‘unbelievably fast’.
Prof Whitty also warned Ministers that astronomical infection rates will spark staff shortages in pubs, restaurants and shops – sparking concerns of a repeat of the so-called ‘pingdemic’ that led to the shutdown of whole swathes of the economy over the summer.
He also said the wave would trigger a ‘significant increase in hospitalisations’. Scary Government modelling predicted that hospital admissions could exceed levels seen during the January lockdown, when 4,000 infected patients were needing medical care every day. In response, NHS bosses yesterday ordered hospitals to discharge as many patients as possible off wards and into care homes.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the Cabinet on Tuesday that a ‘huge spike in Omicron is coming’ and warned a ‘huge spike’ in the variant was coming. Public health officials warned that restrictions could last up to eight weeks.