Getting tested in the UK is becoming more and more difficult, as the need for tests soar due to schools going back and many returning to work. Teachers who need to get tested described a shortage of tests and a lack of testing centres. However, the government has defended the scheme.
The BBC’s Reality Check fact checked each claim it made in defence of the scheme, finding that Johnson was correct in saying that it has processed the highest number of tests in Europe.
Priti Patel claimed that the government is increasing testing capacity, as well as lab capacity; the number of tests being processed is below this, as well as a day’s worth of backlog in tests. There is also no information regarding extra testing in locked down areas, as she claims.
In regards to tests being returned in a day this doesn’t take into consideration the time in which it takes the test to get to the lab. In addition, this figure is from pillar 1 tests, and pillar 2 tests for the wider population take a median of 23 hours. This means that half of tests take over that amount of time.
The Guardian claims that the government plans to ration coronavirus testing and focus on “NHS patients, staff, care homes and key workers”, with a focus on teachers, in order to keep them in schools. What this will mean for the general population- as well as students themselves trying to get tested- is unclear.
Written by Anna Male
Artwork by Zara Masood
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