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People looking for Covid tests have been warned to expect weeks of disruption after Conservative Health Secretary Sajid Javid warned the system will need to be “constrained” on and off for a fortnight.
Boris Johnson had urged people to check their status before Christmas and New Year’s Eve parties, leading to huge demand, reported The Mirror.
At various points on on Wednesday it was not possible to order PCR or lateral flow tests online – and a pharmacy chief slammed “patchy” deliveries to local chemists.
Now Mr Javid has privately suggested that pattern will continue.
In a letter to all MPs in England last night, he wrote: “We are constantly reviewing system performance and ways to maximise its response to the demand for tests.
“However, in light of the huge demand for LFDs seen over the last three weeks, we expect to need to constrain the system at certain points over the next two weeks to manage supply over the course of each day, with new tranches of supply released regularly throughout each day.”
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon earlier said “there were steps taken to constrain demand in England” on Tuesday night.
And a source told the Daily Telegraph: “PCR test demand is still increasing. It’s at the point now where demand and capacity are about level.
“But we will soon reach the point where people are struggling to get PCR tests anywhere near them within 48 hours. And what do we do then?”
British firms have been asked to ramp up production of testing kits, according to the Telegraph.
A scientific advisor to the government warned the current bottleneck of lateral flow test deliveries was “very worrying indeed”.
Professor Peter Openshaw, who sits on the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag), said he was concerned untested people could mix at parties.
Prof Openshaw told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We know the situations in which transmission happens.
“Fortunately I don’t think we are facing the sort of lockdown that was necessary in order to cope in the very earliest part of this year.
“But we do know that crowding together in poorly ventilated spaces, particularly if you are shouting over loud music and so on, is absolutely perfect in terms of transmitting this very, very highly transmissible virus.”
Mr Javid told MPs the supply of lateral flow tests will be tripled in January and February compared to pre-Omicron plans, from 100million to 300million per month.
The UK Health Security Agency has already raised lateral flow test deliveries from 120million to “nearly 300million” in December, he added.
Mr Javid insisted there was “unprecedented” demand for both lateral flow and PCR tests, which “has inevitably placed strain on the testing system, despite the impressive scaling-up of supply, logistics and laboratory capacity. Other countries have faced similar challenges.”
He also admitted the Lighthouse Laboratory Network – where one worker told the MEN they “can’t cope with the number of tests arriving” – has been “impacted by staff sickness”.
Tory MP Sir Roger Gale spoke to Mr Javid and said: “Saj was very honest with me. He said, ‘Look, there isn’t a quick fix.’
“We are now facing the situation where No 10 is saying, ‘Go and get tested,’ and the Department of Health is saying, ‘We haven’t got the tests, we can’t do it.’
“We have created demand in England which we now can’t satisfy.”
Mr Javid told MPs there was “particularly high demand” from care homes on Wednesday, with 190,000 PCR tests submitted from homes to labs for processing in 24 hours.
He insisted the government “are doubling” delivery capacity with Royal Mail to 900,000 PCR and LFT packs per day.
It came as 183,037 new Covid-19 cases were confirmed in 24 hours – the highest UK daily total ever.
The total included a five-day backlog from Northern Ireland, but the 138,287 figure for England was still the highest on record.
Meanwhile 10,462 beds in English hospitals were occupied with Covid patients at 8am on Wednesday – up 916 on the day before and up more than 3,000 since Christmas Day.
Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said: “People are trying to do the right thing, follow the Government’s own advice, and test themselves regularly, but are prevented by the Conservative Government’s incompetence.”
In a statement on Wednesday night, the UK Health Security Agency said almost eight million test kits would be made available to pharmacies by New Year’s Eve.
A UKHSA spokesman said: “The UK’s testing programme is the biggest in Europe with almost 400 million tests carried out since the start of the pandemic.
“We are delivering record numbers of lateral flow tests to pharmacies across the country, with almost eight million test kits being made available to pharmacies between today and New Year’s Eve.
“We have made 100,000 more PCR booking slots available per day since mid-December and we are continuing to rapidly expand capacity – with over half a million tests carried out on 23 December alone and delivery capacity doubled to 900,000 PCR and LFD test kits a day.
“If you have not been able to get the test you need from gov.uk, please keep checking every few hours as more PCR and LFD tests become available every day.”
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