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Coronavirus: What tests are being done in the UK? Coronavirus: What tests are being done in the UK?
(2 days later)
Testing will be an essential part of the government's contact-tracing system for controlling the epidemic as lockdown eases. Anyone with coronavirus symptoms should get tested so Covid-19 can be controlled as the lockdown eases, says Health Secretary Matt Hancock.
People with symptoms will need to access a test quickly so that, if they are found to have coronavirus, anyone they have been in contact with can be tracked down and told to self-isolate. But the UK statistics watchdog has criticised the government's handling of the testing data.
Who gets tested? So how much testing is being done?
Anyone with symptoms in the UK can now be tested. People working or living in care homes can be tested even if they don't have symptoms. Can I get tested?
If you think you need a coronavirus test you can arrange to visit a regional test site. Alternatively, you can ask for a home test kit. In England and Wales anyone with symptoms can get a swab test.
What is the test? In Northern Ireland and Scotland anyone over the age of five with symptoms can get tested.
The tests we're talking about are to find out if you currently have the virus. People working or living in care homes can be tested even if they don't have symptoms.
They are performed by a taking a swab up the nose or from the back of the throat. How many tests are being carried out?
The government is buying another type of test. Antibody tests use a blood sample to find out if you've had the virus in the past. During the coronavirus epidemic, the government has been challenged over its testing capacity and the data presented at daily briefings.
It will first be made available to health and social care staff, patients and care home residents. On Sunday, Matt Hancock announced the UK had exceeded its target to increase coronavirus testing capacity to 200,000 a day by the end of May - describing it as "an important milestone on our journey to control the spread of the virus".
Targets But only about 115,000 tests were actually carried out in the 24 hours to 09:00 BST that day - and that figure includes testing kits posted out to homes.
A number of targets have been set on testing, with the most recent one on capacity. The chairman of the UK Statistics Authority has now criticised the presentation of the daily figures, saying they appeared to be aimed at showing "the largest possible number of tests, even at the expense of understanding".
The government said it wanted UK labs to be able to process 200,000 tests a day by the end of May, and said it reached this on 30 May when capacity hit 205,634. This includes the ability to do 40,000 antibody tests a day. Sir David Norgrove has written to Mr Hancock saying the information is "far from complete", presented in a way that is "difficult to understand", and relevant figures may be "misleadingly" described.
But capacity does not mean that that many tests are being carried out - only that they could be if enough people were reached or needed one. He points out:
Previously, the government set a target that 100,000 coronavirus tests would be carried out per day across the UK by the end of April, and managed to log 122,347 tests on 30 April. Some people are tested more than once - either to prove they no longer have Covid-19, or because a negative result appears incorrect given their symptoms, or because the first test doesn't work.
But it was criticised for including in this figure about 40,000 testing kits which had been sent out but not yet completed or processed. Sir David is also calling for more detailed data on those being tested. He wants age, sex, location and job to be included - such as working in a care home or hospital.
The number of tests performed is not the same as the number of people tested - on 22 May there were 140,497 tests but 80,297 people tested. The government says it releases full data.
The reasons for the gap include: A spokesman said the government was working with statisticians and that the approach throughout had been to "increase transparency around the government's response to coronavirus".
Also counted in the tests, but not the people tested, are figures used by the Office for National Statistics to estimate the level of infection within the population as a whole. While this is important, it's not about diagnosing individuals. How does the test work?
Concerns have been raised about long waits for some test results. The test finds out if you currently have the virus.
While there will now be fewer people with symptoms in the general population, as the epidemic recedes, it's been suggested that the 800,000 people who work for the NHS should be tested about once a week. It involves taking a swab up the nose and the back of the throat, which can be done by the person themselves or by someone else.
Some have suggested health and care staff should be tested, possible twice a week, since the test is most effective around the first three days of having symptoms. These tests won't show if you have had Covid-19 in the past and since recovered.
Speed is also of the essence when it comes to the "test and trace" system. People with symptoms need a quick test so the people they have been in contact with can be tracked down and told to isolate. Delays will give more time for the virus to spread. Antibody tests - which do look for evidence of past exposure - use blood samples from patients.
Anyone with symptoms should immediately isolate, but until they have a positive test, others they already infected who might be asymptomatic might continue spreading the infection. The UK now has capacity for 40,000 antibody tests a day, but these are only being offered to health and care staff.
On 27 May the prime minister committed to an aim of returning all coronavirus tests within 24 hours of the swab being taken.
Later that day the head of the Test and Trace programme, Dido Harding, said 84% of tests at drive-in centres were returned within 24 hours, and 95% within 48 hours. She didn't provide a figure for home testing kits or those provided at other settings.
The Department of Health and Social Care said no formal deadline had been set to achieve this.
Why is testing important?Why is testing important?
A "test and trace" system is being launched in England on 28 May meaning anyone with a positive coronavirus test will be contacted to report their recent encounters with people, and places they have visited. Testing is essential if the contact-tracing systems now in place in all four UK nations are to work effectively, help stop the spread of the virus and avoid the need for UK-wide lockdowns.
Those who have been in "close contact" with someone who tests positive will have to isolate for 14 days, even if they have no symptoms. Tests can also help people, including NHS workers, know whether they are safe to go to work.
A close contact will include household members and anyone who has been within 2 metres of someone for more than 15 minutes. They can also let the health service plan for extra demand and inform government decisions around social distancing and lockdowns.
A similar scheme is launching in Scotland called Test and Protect. What is contact tracing?
Tests can also help people, including NHS workers, know whether they are safe to go to work, let the health service plan for extra demand, and inform government decisions around social distancing and lockdowns. People who test positive for Covid-19 will be told to self-isolate for 14 days - and their recent close contacts will be traced and told to do the same, even if they don't have symptoms.
For this reason, an initial 20,000 households in England will be tested every month for a year - for active coronavirus infections and for antibodies indicating a past infection. Close contacts include household members and anyone who has been within 2m of the positive person for more than 15 minutes.
Has the UK been too slow in testing for coronavirus? Read more about contact tracing in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The UK significantly increased its testing capacity throughout April, but lagged behind many other nations. Germany, for example, was regularly averaging 100,000 tests a day by the start of April. Where do I get tested?
The UK did not start with the resources to do mass testing, unlike some other countries. There are several options.
But it also took several weeks to expand from an initial eight public health laboratories to a wider network of private and university labs. You can travel to a drive-through testing site, visit a mobile testing unit or get a home testing kit delivered to your door.
The government says home test kits will be limited at first, because of a lack of availability.
Testing at an NHS facility, such as a hospital, is available for patients and some NHS workers.
How long will it take to get a result?
Couriers will collect samples and take them to laboratories.
The government says it aims to return test results within 48 hours of a swab being taken, or within 72 hours for a home test.
Speed is important if the contact-tracing systems across the UK are to work well - because delays will give the virus more time to spread.
Speaking the day before England's tracing system was launched, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said there was now a target to get test results in less than 24 hours. But the Department of Health and Social Care said no formal deadline had been set to achieve this.
On the same day, the head of England's test and trace programme, Dido Harding, said 84% of tests at drive-through centres were returned within 24 hours, and 95% within 48 hours.
She didn't provide a figure for home testing kits or those provided at other settings.
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