Mass rapid-turnaround Covid testing is being rolled out across large parts of the country but does not yet include Oxfordshire.
The Health Secretary said he has written to 67 directors of public health about providing '10 per cent of their population per week' with tests.
Matt Hancock told the Commons this afternoon: “The next step is to roll out this mass testing capability more widely.
“So I can tell the House that last night I wrote 67 directors of public health who have expressed an interest in making 10,000 tests available immediately and making available lateral flow tests for use by local officials, according to local needs, at a rate of 10 per cent of their population per week."
ALSO READ: Walk-through Covid testing centre opens in Oxford
He added: “That same capacity – 10 per cent of the population per week – will be made available to the devolved administrations too.
“By combining the local knowledge of public health leaders with our extensive national infrastructure, we can tackle this virus in our communities and help our efforts to bring the R down.
“Testing provides confidence and it is this confidence that will help get Britain back on our feet once more.”
The government said directors of public health were prioritised for the first phase of rapid community testing based on the local prevalence of Covid-19 and 'expressions of interest' to the Department of Health and Social Care.
It added: "Any director of public health who wants to start rolling out local testing using lateral flow tests can do so by contacting DHSC."
This new testing provide results within an hour without needing to be processed in a lab.
Liverpool has already set up 16 testing sites for asymptomatic testing, a number of mobile test units and is delivering a significant number of home testing kits across the city.
The full list;
- Barking and Dagenham
- Bexley
- Birmingham
- Blackburn and Darwen
- Blackpool
- Bolton
- Brent
- Bristol
- Bury
- Calderdale
- Camden
- City of London
- County Durham
- Coventry
- Darlington
- Doncaster
- Dudley
- East Riding of Yorkshire
- Enfield
- Essex
- Gateshead
- Greenwich
- Hackney
- Halton
- Hammersmith and Fulham
- Hartlepool
- Hertfordshire
- Kingston upon Hull
- Islington
- Kensington and Chelsea
- Kingston upon Thames
- Knowsley
- Lambeth
- Lewisham
- Luton
- Manchester
- Middlesborough
- Newcastle upon Tyne
- Newham
- North Tyneside
- Northumberland
- Nottingham City
- Nottinghamshire
- Oldham
- Redbridge
- Redcar and Cleveland
- Richmond upon Thames
- Rochdale
- Salford
- Sefton
- South Tyneside
- Southwark
- St Helen's
- Staffordshire
- Stockport
- Stockton-on-Tees
- Sunderland
- Tameside
- Tower Hamlets
- Trafford
- Wakefield
- Waltham Forest
- Wandsworth
- Warrington
- Wigan
- Wirral
- Wolverhampton
Stoke on Trent, Liverpool and Lancashire have already been provided with lateral flow tests before this week.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel