British lawmakers say there is a 'consensus that testing capacity has been too low'. FMTNews Covid19 UK Britain
LONDON: British lawmakers on Tuesday heaped fresh pressure on the government for its handling of the coronavirus outbreak, calling its testing regime “inadequate” in the early stages.
But despite a recent surge in daily tests and the expansion of eligibility, MPs on a parliamentary committee said: “Testing capacity has been inadequate for most of the pandemic so far.” On Sunday, Britain carried out 100,678 tests for coronavirus, but only 1,215 tests were performed on March 10 – just two weeks before a nationwide lockdown was ordered and as cases spiked.Reacting to the report, work and pensions minister Therese Coffey told the BBC: “The capacity is there.”The government has come under sustained pressure about the spread of the virus in care homes, and the testing of frontline health and social care workers.
The Guardian on Tuesday cited an unpublished government study that said temporary workers transmitted the virus between care homes.The committee said a failure by government body Public Health England to publish its testing policy was “unacceptable for a decision that may have had such significant consequences”, it added.
But they suggested that having that capacity could have given the government “more options” at an earlier stage of the pandemic.
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