Britain to roll out millions of 90-minute coronavirus tests

[webfact]

Britain to roll out millions of 90-minute coronavirus tests

 

People walk past a British government public health campaign advertisement encouraging people to get tested, amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in London, Britain, August 2, 2020. REUTERS/Toby Melville

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Millions of COVID-19 tests able to detect the virus within 90 minutes will be rolled out to British hospitals, care homes and laboratories to boost capacity in the coming months, the country's health minister said on Monday.

 

They will comprise 5.8 million tests using DNA and 450,000 swab tests. Neither will need to be administered by a health professional, said Matt Hancock.

 

"The fact these tests can detect flu as well as COVID-19 will be hugely beneficial as we head into winter, so patients can follow the right advice to protect themselves and others," he said.

 

Separately, the publicly-funded National Health Service said it would be offering "COVID-friendly" treatments to cancer patients, including drugs that do not have a big impact on the immune system.

 

Britain's healthcare system has come under severe strain during peaks in the country's COVID-19 outbreak, which has killed more than 46,000 people, the fourth highest toll in the world, according to a Reuters tally collated on Sunday.

 

(Reporting by Costas Pitas; editing by John Stonestreet)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-08-03

 

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[Chomper Higgot]

Another ‘announcement’.

 

Next month another failure to meet the target.

[transam]

3 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Another ‘announcement’.

 

Next month another failure to meet the target.

Really.....????

[stevenl]

'In the coming months' gives a lot of wiggle room, but the idea is sound. More testing is necessary. 

 

BTW, how it the tracking and tracing app going, should be fully up and running by now?

[tomacht8]

Is there UK government support for synairgen? Is a UK company and their study is promising. The UK government should get more and faster involved in such projects.

 

https://www.clinicaltrialsarena.com/news/synairgen-covid-trial-data/

[Scott]

Off-topic posts and replies removed.  

 

[evadgib]

From HMG today:

 

Roll-out of 2 new rapid coronavirus tests ahead of winter

 

Millions of ground-breaking rapid coronavirus tests will be rolled out to hospitals, care homes and labs across the UK to increase testing capacity ahead of winter. The tests will enable clinicians and NHS Test and Trace to quickly advise on the best course of action to stop the spread of the virus.

Edited August 3, 2020 by Rimmer
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