Coronavirus news - live: Test result turnaround times hit lowest point, as millions in northeast face lockdown
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Your support makes all the difference.The proportion of people in England receiving an in-person Covid-19 test result within the government's 24-hour target period has hit its lowest point since the middle of June.
Test and Trace chief Baroness Dido Harding told MPs the latest capacity for Covid-19 tests stands at 242,000 across the UK, but that demand was currently three to four times higher.
The former Talk Talk boss conceded that tests were lying unused at testing sites, lest they go out of date at backlogged laboratories, where she said the “constraint” lay in the system.
It came as more than 1.5 million people across the northeast of England prepare to be placed under new coronavirus restrictions, bringing the total subject to additional measures to nearly 10 million across the country.
The new rules will see residents banned from socialising outside their own households or support bubble, leisure and entertainment venues shut between 10pm and 5am, and table service only in bars and restaurants from midnight on Thursday.
And globally, reported infections surpassed 30 million, according to a Reuters tally, as countries’ combined official death tolls neared the million mark.
Airline ‘concerned’ by Ireland’s updated travel green list
Aer Lingus has said it is "concerned" by the Irish government's approach to the green list of countries people can travel to without having to restrict their movements when returning home.
The Department of Foreign Affairs updated the government's green list to include Cyprus, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland from Monday.
However, a number of countries removed from the list include Hungary, Italy, Slovakia, Greece, Norway and Estonia.
The airline has criticised the update, saying it does not represent a step towards alignment with the European Commission's free movement proposal.
Earlier this week the government said it decided to "broadly support" the European Commission proposals on travel.
Daily cases top 3,000 for sixth time in seven days
A further 3,395 coronavirus cases have been identified in the UK, while 21 more people have died within four weeks of testing positive for the virus.
Mass testing will tackle shortages, says Jeremy Hunt
Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt has said that mass testing of the UK population for coronavirus is the “only sustainable solution” to tackle spikes in demand causing test shortages, our health correspondent Shaun Lintern reports.
In an email message to mark world patient safety day on Thursday, Mr Hunt said demand for tests was only going to keep rising and introducing mass testing would avoid people panicking and trying to get a test at the same time as everyone else.
The chair of the Commons health select committee also reiterated his calls for weekly testing of hospital staff to give patients and frontline workers confidence in hospitals being Covid free.
“Population testing, as advocated by Tony Blair, William Hague and others seems to me the only sustainable solution given that demand is likely to keep soaring”, he said.
“People would not get into a panicked rush for a test if they knew they would get one soon anyway. Such a solution may not be too far off: quadrupling October’s 500k daily test target would mean the whole population could be tested monthly, something well within the bounds of Operation Moonshot.
“But we need a plan based on existing technologies if people are to have confidence the end is in sight.”
Mass coronavirus testing will tackle shortages, says Jeremy Hunt
Former health secretary says he passed up a job in government to campaign on patient safety
Tests lying unused at testing sites due to backlogged laboratories - despite surging demand, Dido Harding admits
Dido Harding, who is heading up the Test and Trace scheme, has confirmed that the "constraint" in the testing system was in processing and laboratories - and that tests were lying unused at sites as a result despite record demand.
“We have to restrict the number of people who are taking tests in the testing sites so that there's no risk of those tests going out of date when they are processed in the labs,” Baroness Harding told MPs on the Commons Science and Technology Committee.
"So I do understand how frustrating it feels that when you arrive in the testing site and it doesn't look like it's very busy and you can see it could do more, but the capacity constraint isn't in those testing sites, it's back in the lab.
"And it would be very dangerous to send too many samples back to the laboratory, have them not be processed and people not know what their results were."
Boris Johnson accused of 'wilfully ignoring' disproportionat impact of coronavirus on disabled people and potentially making situation worse
Speaking on the Commons, the prime minister said he wasn't aware of criticism of government coronavirus policy from disabled groups, despite an outcry over legislation past by his government, our policy correspondent Jon Stone reports.
Labour is urging the government to publish its impact assessments on how emergency pandemic policies are affecting people with disabilities, and to publish a long-term plan for disabled people who might have to shield.
Office for National Statistics data shows that two-thirds of those who have died from Covid-19 have been disabled or had health conditions that limit their daily activities. Meanwhile, deaths among disabled people have been 2.4 times higher than for non-disabled people. The rate rate rises up to five times higher for people with learning disabilities or autism, who have been hit particularly hard.
Since April the government's Coronavirus Act has also allowed local authorities to reduce their usual duties in caring for people under the Care Act 2014. Labour says this policy needs to be urgently reviewed.
“Boris Johnson has been silent on the crisis within a crisis facing disabled people," said Marsha de Cordova, Shadow Women and Equalities Secretary. “These high death rates demand serious and targeted action but disabled people and their families are being wilfully ignored.
“The prime minister cannot keep ducking responsibility, he must take a lead to keep disabled people safe.”
Boris Johnson accused of 'wilfully ignoring' impact of coronavirus on disabled people
Labour calls for government to publish equality impact assessments
BBC Scotland to resume coverage of coronavirus briefings, correspondent says
Sadiq Khan denounces Jacob Rees-Mogg’s testing comments as ‘dangerous’
The Labour Party has seized on comments made earlier by the Leader of the House of Commons, in which he told those raising concerns about the lack of coronavirus tests to stop the “endless carping”.
London’s mayor tweeted:
Senior NHS officials contacted Ireland for help with coronavirus testing this week, health chief says
Ireland's Health Service Executive boss Paul Reid has revealed that he was contacted by senior officials from the NHS earlier this week to help with the UK’s testing system, which he described as in “almost collapse”.
Mr Reid was defending Ireland's testing capacity following a surge in demand for Covid-19 tests in recent weeks when he made the revelation.
“What's happening with their testing and tracing system, which is in almost collapse and the shutting down of swabbing centres,” Mr Reid said.
"Earlier this week, I was contacted by some very senior officials in the NHS seeking could the Irish health service do some testing in laboratories for themselves.
"What we did in the quieter period in the summer was build up our capacity for 100,000 tests [per week].
"We were not in a position [to help]. We built up our capacity purely for Ireland. It was an informal contact but it demonstrates where other systems are at."
Demand for coronavirus testing outstripping capacity ‘three to four times’, Dido Harding admits
The NHS Test and Trace director has admitted demand for coronavirus tests across the UK is significantly outstripping capacity, with those attempting to make bookings around three to four times higher than the number available, our political correspondent Ashley Cowburn reports.
Baroness Dido Harding, who told MPs the latest capacity for Covid-19 tests stands at 242,000 across the UK, said the “sizeable” rise in demand over the last few weeks was unexpected.
The testing boss added there had been a “marked increase” in the number of parents bringing children for tests, but claimed capacity had been based on modelling by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage).
As the government faces escalating pressure over the turmoil in the testing system, Baroness Harding, however, insisted: “I strongly refute that the system is failing”.
Her remarks came after Boris Johnson conceded the country did not have enough tests available to meet the current demands of the pandemic as he reiterated the government’s goal of 500,000 tests a day by the end of October.
Demand for Covid tests is up to four times higher than capacity, Dido Harding admits
'It’s clear from today that demand is significantly outstripping the capacity we have’
Residents in part of Cumbria advised not to mix more than two households as cases rise
Cumbria County Council has reminded people in the Barrow Borough Council area to stick to the legal limit of six when meeting in groups, but also "strongly advised" that the groups should be restricted to no more than two households at any one time.
“The number of cases in Barrow has risen rapidly in the last 10 days, and in combination with the way we are seeing infection spreading, this is very concerning,” said Colin Cox, Cumbria's director of public health.
"Barrow is not yet seeing the level of infection in places like Oldham, but without action this is clearly where we are heading.
"The new local action we are taking today is aimed at protecting local people and stopping Barrow having local lockdown measures imposed upon it by government."
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