Coronavirus rapid testing scheme disrupted in Staffordshire due to lack of kits
A rapid testing scheme targeting Covid hotspots has been disrupted due to a lack of available kits.
Staffordshire County Council says it was forced to cancel testing in the village of Caverswall as it did not have access to enough kits.
The authority has an allocation of 20,000 lateral flow rapid testing kits and has called on people living in areas of high infection to book a test online.
Bosses say the planned six-hour session in Caverswall, near Stoke, yesterday had to be scrapped, with villagers instead diverted to a centre eight miles away in Burslem.
They are eventually hoping to test around 80,000 people without symptoms every week, a move that is seen as key to getting the county out of Tier 3 Covid restrictions.
The council’s health chief, Dr Richard Harling, said the session had been cancelled “due to the lack of available testing kits” and that people with a booking had been contacted and diverted to another site.
He added: “These rapid-turnaround tests are helping us to identify areas that are seeing a high rate of community transmission.
“The tests give us a better understanding of the spread in the area which means we can identify and isolate more cases.
“We’re busy recruiting people to help deliver these tests, which will eventually see up to 80,000 people in the county tested every single week.”
The infection rate in Caverswall is more than 500 cases per 100,000 people, which is way above the national average and one of the highest rates in the region.
Staffordshire County Council rolled outs its testing programme last week and plans to regularly update testing hotspots to target the hardest hit areas.
Current hotspots include Codsall North, Great Wyrley, Landywood and Chase Terrace.
People without Covid symptoms are advised to visit the council website to book a test.
