NHS staff who need coronavirus tests can have them, says Matt Hancock
All NHS and social care workers who need coronavirus tests can now receive them, says Health Secretary Matt Hancock as 15 drive-thru centres open across the UK
- Matt Hancock announced Government now has capacity to test all frontline staff
- Test centres opened in Glasgow, Cardiff, Belfast, Nottingham, Leeds and London
- First mega-lab ‘capable of testing thousands a day’ has opened in Milton Keynes
All key NHS and social care workers who need to be tested for Covid-19 will now be able to receive them, the Health Secretary has said.
Matt Hancock announced earlier today that the Government now has the capacity to test all frontline staff who need it amid significant numbers self-isolating for fear of having contracted coronavirus.
The Health Secretary said 15 testing drive-through centres had been opened across the UK to enable more testing for frontline staff.
These are in locations including Glasgow, Cardiff, Belfast, Nottingham, Leeds and London.
Matt Hancock (pictured) announced earlier today that the Government now has the capacity to test all frontline staff who need it amid significant numbers self-isolating for fear of having contracted coronavirus
He add that two more ‘Lighthouse mega-labs’ were on track in Cheshire and Glasgow after he launched the first one in Milton Keynes on Thursday.
The Health Secretary opened the National Biosample Centre facility discretely after being shrouded in mystery for weeks.
Despite officially operating for less than 24 hours, officials claim the Milton Keynes lab is ‘already able to test thousands of patient samples each day’.
AstraZeneca and GSK were also opening another testing facility in Cambridge at the end of the month, he added.
‘I can announce today that we have capacity for all key social care staff and NHS staff who need to be tested to get those tests,’ Mr Hancock told the daily Downing Street briefing.
The Health Secretary said 15 testing drive-through centres had been opened across the UK to enable more testing for frontline staff. Pictured: NHS staff members arriving for testing at a newly set up test centre at Manchester Airport
Some 19,116 coronavirus tests were carried out across Great Britain on Thursday, of which 5,706 came back positive, he said. Pictured: Coronavirus testing kits posted out to patients for remote testing
Some 19,116 coronavirus tests were carried out across Great Britain on Thursday, of which 5,706 came back positive, he said.
The number of people in hospital who have tested positive for the disease stands at 19,304 with 8,958 dead – an increase of 980 on the day before.
Mr Hancock said: ‘We never forget that behind this number, behind each one is a name, a loss, and a family that will never be the same again.
‘And we all share a responsibility to tackle this virus, first and foremost by staying at home.’
He added that there is still a ‘lot of work’ needed to reach the target he set of 100,000 daily Covid-19 tests by the end of April.
Asked how he expects to achieve this, he said: ‘We have had a huge number of offers from people who have come to us and said “we can turn this facility which hasn’t been a coronavirus testing facility into a coronavirus testing facility”.’
Mr Hancock said some of the centres that had been offered included ones the Government did not know about.
He added: ‘We are working 24/7 to hit it (the target).
‘Everyone can see the daily trajectory, which has almost doubled since I set it and we’ve clearly got a lot of work to get to our 100,000, but we are on track.’
It comes after Mr Hancock was recently forced to admit his pledge to boost Covid-19 testing capacity to 100,000 per day by the end of April did not include antibody kits, which are seen as crucial to getting the UK back up and running because they can reveal who has had, and is now immune to, coronavirus.
Milton Keynes ‘super-lab’ to analyse thousands more coronavirus tests each day FINALLY opens – after ministers said they had no idea when it would be operational
A super-lab for coronavirus testing has finally opened in Milton Keynes after ministers admitted they had no idea when it would be operational.
The National Biosample Centre has been shrouded in mystery for weeks and was discreetly opened last night by Health Secretary Matt Hancock.
There was skepticism the facility would get going in time to meet Number 10’s ambitious plan to test 100,000 people a day.
Despite officially operating for less than 24 hours, officials claim the Milton Keynes lab is ‘already able to test thousands of patient samples each day’.
Mr Hancock emphasised the opening as a key point in British history as the Government grapples with the pandemic at hand.
The National Biosample Centre for coronavirus testing has finally opened in Milton Keynes after ministers admitted they had no idea when it would be operational
At today’s press briefing, he said that two more ‘Lighthouse mega-labs’ in Cheshire and Glasgow were already open – despite not being officially launched.
Suspicions The National Biosample Centre had been earmarked as a COVID-19 testing lab rose in mid-March.
Locals in Tilbrook, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, had noticed an abnormal level of activity taking place at the building, which is tucked away in a quiet industrial site between Browns Woods and Caldecote.
But Department of Health officials refused to comment on what was happening. Plans seemed to be veiled in secrecy amid ongoing criticism of the Government for failing to scale up testing with speed.
Last week sources claimed no testing has actually taken place, even though Mr Hancock claimed the facility had opened on March 24.
At the daily press briefing, Mr Hancock said: ‘On testing, we are ramping up, those will come online very soon.
‘In fact, our new testing facility in Milton Keynes opens today and we are therefore on the ramp up of the testing numbers.’
There was skepticism the super-lab would ever get going because the Government refused to comment on plans. The warehouse is pictured
To add further confusion, government ministers admitted on April 2 they still did not know when it would be ‘fully operational’.
Robert Jenrick, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government contradicted what Mr Hancock said on Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘I don’t know precisely when that’s going to be coming on board but obviously everything is coming as quickly as it possibly can.’
Now it can be revealed Mr Hancock quietly visited the building on Thursday before the Cobra meeting to formally launch it.
Matt Hancock said last night: ‘We have set the challenge of achieving a 100,000 coronavirus tests a day by the end of the month.
‘A stream of new testing and diagnostic facilities are being brought online, and the opening of the first of our new Lighthouse Labs is an historic moment.’
The opening of Milton Keynes lab for the purpose of coronavirus testing was a ‘crucial step’ taken in tackling this virus, Mr Hancock said.
Built for £24million in 2015, the facility is the largest in the UK for storing and processing swabs. It has capacity to store more than 20million samples at temperatures as low as -196C.
Officials say swab samples will be sent in from all over the country by Royal Mail and Amazon.
The labs are part of the Governments plan to ‘dramatically increase the number of coronavirus tests that can take place each day’.
According to a Government spokesperson the will help process ‘tens of thousands of tests’ in the coming weeks and is ‘already able to test thousands of patient samples each day’.
But despite the government’s boast, vacancies for ‘experienced laboratory staff’ to work at the Milton Keynes site were still circulating on April 2.
The Microbiology Society sent an urgent appeal to its members on behalf of the Government, asking for specialists to work at the Milton Keynes site.
It suggested staff shortages were the reason for the faltered start of the laboratory, but the DHSC refused to reveal how many lab technicians and other staff had been employed.
Insiders told MailOnline that the government has not been able to recruit enough lab technicians who have expertise in operating PCR machines, that are able to locate the coronavirus gene and establish if somebody is infected or not.
One scientific researcher who did not want to be named, told MailOnline: ‘There are some fantastic, experienced laboratory staff all over the country, but the government wants most of the testing done centrally in Milton Keynes and two other locations and this is causing the problem.
‘From what I’ve been told, no testing at all has taken place at Milton Keynes. It can take two weeks to train somebody to operate a PCR machine, but this is time that the country doesn’t have. They need to get the site fully operational as quickly as possible but that’s not happening and it’s costing people their lives.’
Currently almost 20,000 tests are being processed a day. This needs to reach 100,000 by the end of April to meet Mr Hancock’s goal.
The ‘Lighthouse Labs’ have taken their name from the PCR testing technology, which uses fluorescent light to detect the virus.
Mr Hancock said today two further Lighthouse Labs have been opened in Alderley Park and Glasgow to add further capacity to test swabs for the virus.
A fourth lab at Cambridge University’s Anne McLaren Laboratory aims to process 30,000 tests per day, which would go a long way to meeting the Government’s 100,000 a day April target.
But it won’t be ‘fully up and running’ until May, the university’s Vice-Chancellor, Stephen Toope, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Wednesday.
A Government spokesman said: ‘The site in Milton Keynes is the first of three mega-labs that will be integrated into the new national testing infrastructure.
‘The platform will automate the country’s collection of patient samples, supported by world-class, cross-sector British logistics experts, supported by military planners.’
There have now been a total of 65,077 positive results in the UK. Today was the largest jump in coronavirus deaths. A further 953 people have died, bringing the total to 8,931.
Currently only people seriously ill in hospital are able to access a coronavirus test, leaving the full scale of the UK epidemic unknown.
Efforts to get the thousands of NHS frontline workers are underway but a small minority have been able to access a test.
The Government spokesperson said: ‘The testing of NHS staff and their families currently in isolation will continue to be prioritised, allowing those testing negative, or with family members who test negative, to return to work.’
Since rollout began on March 24, there are now 13 drive-through sites for NHS frontline staff and their families in operation across the UK, helping to provide the labs with patient samples.
Lighthouse Labs have been constructed through a partnership with the Department of Health and Social Care, Medicines Discovery Catapult, UK Biocentre and the University of Glasgow.
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