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Next version
Version 14 | Version 15 |
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Coronavirus: Why does testing matter? | |
(1 day later) | |
The UK has been criticised for failing to test more people for coronavirus. | |
But why is testing important and how does the UK compare with other countries? | |
What is the test? | What is the test? |
The main type of test to see if someone has Covid-19, is taking a swab of their nose or throat. | |
This is sent off to a lab to look for signs of the virus's genetic material. | |
Can I get tested? | Can I get tested? |
Testing is not yet available for most people. | |
At the moment, most tests are reserved for seriously ill patients in hospital. | |
It means the majority of people who have symptoms can't find out if they are currently infected with coronavirus. | |
Tests are now being made available to doctors and nurses who have symptoms, or who live in a household with someone who does. Tests for other health and care workers will follow. | |
However, only 2,000 of the NHS's 500,000 frontline staff had been tested by 09:00 BST on Wednesday. | |
Overall, 152,979 people in the UK had been tested. | |
Why isn't the UK doing more tests? | Why isn't the UK doing more tests? |
The UK does not appear to have the resources to do mass testing at the moment. | The UK does not appear to have the resources to do mass testing at the moment. |
The government's target for daily testing by mid-April is 25,000. However, only 13,000 can currently be done each day and just 8,630 were carried out on Monday. | |
Some NHS trusts say they can only carry out a limited number of tests because of shortages of swabs, testing kits and reagents. | |
A reagent is the substance used to extract the virus's genetic material so it can be studied more easily. At the moment there is high global demand for reagents, which is why they are hard to obtain. | |
There has also been concern about the number of labs being used to look at the tests. | |
At first, Public Health England was only using its own eight laboratories. This has been expanded to 40 NHS labs - so, 48 labs in total. | |
The government says it is working with other organisations to recruit more laboratories and sites for testing. The laboratory capacity of universities and research institutes is set to be used to test NHS workers. | |
Why is testing important? | |
There are two main reasons for testing people - to diagnose who has got the virus and who has had it. | |
Having this information could help the health service plan for extra demand, including on intensive care units. | |
Testing could also inform decisions around social distancing measures. For example, if large numbers of people were found to have already been infected, then a lockdown might become less necessary. | |
And not testing more widely means many people might be self-isolating for no reason, including NHS workers. | |
An antibody test is used to see whether someone has already had the virus. They look for signs of immunity in the blood by using a drop of blood on a device, a bit like a pregnancy test. | |
The government has bought three-and-a-half million antibody tests, but they are not yet available to use. The tests are still being checked to make sure they work. | |
How about the rest of the world? | |
South Korea, which has been able to test far more widely than the UK has, acted very quickly to approve the production of testing kits, allowing it to build up a stockpile. | South Korea, which has been able to test far more widely than the UK has, acted very quickly to approve the production of testing kits, allowing it to build up a stockpile. |
Despite having a slightly smaller population than the UK, it has twice as many labs and about two-and-a-half times the weekly testing capacity. | Despite having a slightly smaller population than the UK, it has twice as many labs and about two-and-a-half times the weekly testing capacity. |
Germany has carried out more than three times as many tests as the UK. | |
By 27 March, it had tested 1,096 per 100,000 citizens, while as of 1 April, the UK had tested 348 per 100,000 of the population. | |
That compares with 895 per 100,000 for Italy, 842 per 100,000 for South Korea, 348 per 100,000 for USA and 27 per 100,000 for Japan. | |
Follow Rachel on Twitter | Follow Rachel on Twitter |
What do I need to know about the coronavirus? | What do I need to know about the coronavirus? |