Coronavirus: UK too slow to increase testing capacity, say MPs

The government's ability to test people for coronavirus has been "inadequate" throughout the pandemic, a committee of MPs has said.

The Science and Technology Committee said capacity had not been increased "early or boldly enough".

It said a lack of capacity had driven initial decisions in mid-March to scale back contact tracing and largely restrict tests to hospital patients.

No 10 said testing had since been expanded on "an unprecedented scale".

Committee chairman Greg Clark said ministers would need to "apply the lessons" from the "slowness" of increases to testing to other areas.

In a letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the Conservative MP added that capacity "drove strategy, rather than strategy driving capacity".

The UK significantly increased its testing capacity throughout April, although it has previously faced criticism it was initially too slow to do so.

A target for 100,000 daily tests was initially met on 1 May, but then missed for eight consecutive days after that before being met again on 10 May.

On Monday, after 100,678 tests were provided in the previous 24 hours, ministers announced another expansion in eligibility, with everyone aged five and over now able to get tested if they show symptoms.

Increasing testing capacity has also been seen as crucial in allowing a mass programme to track infected people using an NHS app, which ministers want to launch UK-wide "in the coming weeks".

In his letter, Mr Clark laid out several recommendations to ministers.

He accused Public Health England (PHE) of initially opting to "concentrate" tests in a limited number of its own laboratories and only expanding capacity "gradually".

He said that had led to the decision to initially abandon contact-tracing as a strategy on 12 March, and meant care home residents could not be tested when the virus was spreading at its fastest rate.

He added that evidence taken by his committee from experts in South Korea, Hong Kong and Germany had shown the need for mass testing was "identifiable from the beginning".

PHE defends role

In response, PHE said it was "not responsible" for the UK's testing strategy, which "has been led by the Department of Health and Social Care".

Its chief executive Duncan Selbie added that "any testing facility with the right technology and containment" could conduct the test it approved after security restrictions were lowered on 3 March.

"PHE did not constrain or seek to control any laboratory either public, univeRead More – Source

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