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Government working to increase number of people tested
for COVID-19 to 25,000 hospital patients a day
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PM calls on industry to work with Government to
urgently develop new test to determine whether people have
developed immunity
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Rapid upscaling will help NHS and other critical public
sector staff back to work as fast as possible
As many as 25,000 people within NHS
hospitals will be tested for coronavirus every day as part
of a major national effort to boost testing capacity, the
government has confirmed today.
With a focus on ensuring the highest priority cases are
tested first, officials are working to rapidly increase the
number of tests that can be conducted by Public Health England
and the NHS in laboratories, with the expected surge in capacity
ready within just four weeks.
The announcement follows a meeting at Downing Street last
night, where the Prime Minister and Health Secretary delivered a
call to arms to industry leaders, promising them they would be
given whatever support they needed to help government rapidly
scale up testing capabilities across the country.
The Prime Minister also called on companies to work with
the government to rapidly develop a test to establish
whether people have developed immunity to help get NHS and other
critical public sector staff back to work as fast as they
can.
Health Secretary said:
“Public safety is my top priority, and radically ramping up
testing for coronavirus is a key part of our plan to protect
lives. We are already among the best in the world for coronavirus
testing and today we are launching a national effort to increase
our testing capability even further.
“Our aim is to protect life, protect the most vulnerable,
and relieve pressure on our NHS – so it is right that we
prioritise testing for those most at risk of severe illness. We
will always do the right thing at the right time, based on the
best scientific advice, and will do whatever it takes to protect
life."
The ramping up of testing will include developing a
point-of-care swab test outside of hospitals, so people with
suspected symptoms can quickly find out if they have coronavirus.
We have called on industry to rapidly develop this
test.
Professor Sharon Peacock, Director of the National
Infection Service at Public Health England said:
“This is a timely boost to the UK’s testing capacity, which
is a vital element in the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic.
By working together with industry we can increase the country’s
testing ability – allowing us to better map the spread of
infection in the community and to protect our healthcare workers
on the frontline of our response.”
We have one of the most sophisticated public health systems
in the world. The UK was one of the first countries
outside China to have assured testing capability for the novel
coronavirus.
The UK Government has already completed over 50,000 tests.
It is anticipated that, with increased capacity to 25,000 daily,
testing levels in the UK could soon exceed that in China.
Last week, the NHS and PHE increased testing to 5,000 a day
and that number continues to increase. By
next week it is hoped we will increase testing to 10,000 per
day.
Since the end of February, there has been a robust
surveillance programme in place, where PHE is testing a sample of
the population to help us understand the level of virus
circulating in the community.
Our robust surveillance determines what
proportion of the population is affected – and is used by
modellers to estimate where we are in the pandemic and to assess
the impact of the measures that have been
taken.
Notes to editors
- For companies
wishing to work with the government on our testing capabilities –
please contact COVIDdiagnostics@phe.gov.uk
- Attendees at the
No10 event included Roche, ThermoFisher, Boots, and Amazon, as
well as the Chief Medical Officer, Chief Scientific Advisor, and
senior representatives from PHE and the NHS.
