RAPID testing centres across parts of England shut over Christmas despite a surge in cases – sparking outrage among Brits.
Councils including Brent, Wolverhampton and Birmingham have closed down community testing sites for up to five days over the Christmas period even though UK cases jumped by 45% in a week.
In November, the UK government set up ‘rapid’ lateral flow testing centres for Brits with no Covid symptoms in 106 parts of England in a bid to curb transmissions.
With one in three positive cases thought to be asymptomatic, the Health Secretary called the rapid test schemes “vital” to understanding and beating the virus.
But despite the steep rise in cases, multiple councils have shut testing sites to locals over the Christmas holidays, causing outrage among the public.
Brent Council in London shut down all nine of its rapid testing centres from December 24 to 28, and again on 1 January as they expected “booking numbers during this time would be low”.
Brent in London is under the toughest Tier 4 restrictions and had 1,282 cases confirmed last week with 388.8 positive cases per 100,000 people.
Brent council is currently running a six-week rapid testing trial to better understand the spread of coronavirus in the community.
Brent’s testing for people with coronavirus symptoms will remain open throughout this time, albeit with reduced hours.
Wolverhampton Council also closed its main rapid testing sites from December 25 to 28 and on New Year’s Day, while Birmingham Council closed four of its testing centres from December 25 to 28, and shut the Utilita Arena site from January 1 to 3 as well.
Bradford council’s rapid testing areas were closed on Christmas Eve and will reopen again after the Christmas Bank on December 29 – before shutting once more on New Year’s Day.
And Kirklees testing centre shut for four days from Christmas Eve, reopening at 2pm on December 28.
Members of the public are furious at the local councils’ decisions as critics warned “the virus doesn’t know it’s Christmas”.
Brits took to Twitter to express their outrage at the council’s closure of rapid testing sites as millions more Brits are plunged into Tier 4 lockdown restrictions today.
LBC journalist Ben Kentish tweeted: “Happy Christmas to everyone working up and down the country, apparently except @Brent_Council, which has closed all nine of its rapid testing centres for a full five days at the height of the pandemic.”
Sue Chadwick replied to the tweet, saying: “That is unbelievable! I have to say it again UNBELIEVABLE!”
While Shahil Parmar simply wrote: “Unacceptable.”
Rapid testing schemes for people without symptoms were rolled out across England on November 9.
An initial 600,000 batch of tests was sent out in the first week of the scheme and followed up with a weekly allocation of lateral flow antigen tests to the different areas.
But it is up to directors of public health to determine how to “prioritise the allocation of these new tests, based on the specific needs of their communities” – allowing each area to decide how people are tested.
A government statement announcing the trials said lateral flow testing was “crucial” to stop the virus spreading.
The statement added: “Proactively testing asymptomatic individuals will help identify those who unknowingly have the virus and enable those who test positive and their contacts to self-isolate, which can help drive down the R rate locally and save lives.
“This is crucial to break the chains of transmission of the virus and to support critical industries, key workers and institutions.”
And Health Secretary Matt Hancock hailed the rapid testing scheme, saying: “Mass testing is a vital tool to help us control this virus and get life more normal.”
A Brent Council spokesperson said: “Staying at home is the most important thing people can do right now to stop the spread of COVID-19 and protect themselves and their loved ones.
“If people are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 they can book a test at either our Wembley or Harlesden testing sites which are open throughout the holiday period.
“We are taking part in a six week, free rapid COVID-19 test pilot with the Department for Health and Social Care, until 24 January 2021. This test is for people who do not show any symptoms of COVID-19.
“There are nine rapid COVID-19 testing sites in Brent and these will reopen on Tuesday 29 December.
“These sites are temporarily closed as we anticipated that booking numbers during this time would be low and the current government model puts councils at risk financially if not enough people turn up.”
Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Bradford and Kirklees councils have been contacted to comment on the closures over the Christmas period.
The news comes as coronavirus deaths passed 70,000 on Christmas day in a grim new milestone.
A further 570 deaths have been recorded bringing the new total to 70,195.
Cases increased by 45 per cent across the UK in a week with 32,725 Brits testing positive for the virus In the past 24 hours.
Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales did not publish their deaths yesterday – meaning the true figure will likely jump on December 29 when the data is updated.
Millions of people across Britain celebrated a very different Christmas yesterday – with many being unable to visit loved ones due to the tough covid restrictions.
