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Wales could expand coronavirus testing criteria, says chief medical officer

Casting net wider would help to catch ‘residual cases’, says Dr Frank Atherton

Rory Sullivan
Friday 26 February 2021 16:24 GMT
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People in Wales could be offered coronavirus tests for a wider range of symptoms in the future, the country’s chief medical officer has suggested.

Dr Frank Atherton told reporters at a press conference in Cardiff that those with symptoms other than a cough, high temperature or loss of taste or smell could soon be included in Wales’ testing programme.

His remarks come after Swansea Bay University health board expanded the remit of its testing policy, allowing groups including those who are feeling generally unwell and those who come into contact with someone with Covid-19 to be tested. 

The chief medical officer explained that new Covid-19 variants seemed to cause slightly different effects to those previously seen in the UK. However, he emphasised that the “classic three symptoms” remained the same.

“But the widening of the testing criteria does make sense in the current circumstance and that’s something we’re thinking about, not just in Swansea Bay but in other areas as well,” he said.

Dr Atherton added that as community transmission reduces, testing criteria could be cast wider to find “residual cases”.

In Wales, roughly one in 205 people had coronavirus between 13 and 19 February, a significant reduction from the estimated one in 125 recorded the previous week.

The number of hospitalisations for coronavirus has also fallen in Wales, down to 70 admissions per day from 130 in January, according to Dr Andrew Goodall, the chief executive of NHS Wales.

Despite this promising sign, Dr Goodall said the number of Covid-19 patients in Welsh hospitals – 1,650 – is still higher than at the peak of the first wave. “I need to emphasise that our overall numbers in hospitals remain high,” he said.

Stressing the importance of a “gradual release of restrictions”, the NHS Wales boss added: “This is serious and affects the ability of the NHS to undertake other activities. It would not take much to see these numbers go up very quickly if the virus once again spreads through our communities.”

On Thursday, the UK’s top four medical officers agreed to lower the Covid-19 alert level from five, the highest possible, to four, meaning that the likelihood of the NHS being overwhelmed within three weeks has receded slightly.

The officials warned, however, that the health service is still under “significant pressure”, with 16,800 Covid-19 patients in hospital currently across the UK.

Additional reporting by Press Association

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