66 new areas for mass testing

[Orangeblossom7777]

Can see if your town is on the list here

www.gov.uk/government/news/more-rapid-covid-19-tests-to-be-rolled-out-across-england

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.

10000 new tests given to local authorities isn't really mass testing, is it?

The population of most of those areas is between about 200,000 and 350,000 and each will have 10,000 tests.

Unless they pick people at random off the Electoral Register they will only discover that x% of people who [insert criterion picked to test] test positive.

It's being reported as if it is mass testing in the BBC news...

"Covid: Mass testing for 66 local areas in England"

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-54885657

In the article it said they will be given tests for 10% of their populations I think.

Oh the 10,000 is an initial allocation and then they will be given a weekly amount equal to 10% of the population.

The BBC article should be a bit clearer- made it sound the same as Liverpool. It was also mentioned in the Times similarly- bit about three towns. Wonder if it changes as they go along perhaps

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/three-more-towns-to-bring-in-mass-testing-for-covid-19-jm50m7vht

"The prime minister will announce that three more towns will have all their inhabitants tested for coronavirus this week, after mass testing got under way in Liverpool last week.

More than 100,000 people will be told to go for a test in the three towns, which include one in the Midlands and another in the south of England."

10000??? for mass testing in Camden?? ahahhahhahahahhah

So despite being under local restrictions for the longest, Leicester and Leicestershire are not included. Gee, thanks Central Government...

“Will be told”

Christ, sounds sinister. I wish they would word things better. Invited, perhaps? Because being “told” to have a test indicates something rather different.

I expect it’s all the Liverpool tests that no one wants

23 000 tested and 158 positive

Other than Saturday the sites have been quiet

My mate went to a city centre site Sunday and was only one there

Most having tests are over 60 so it’s not been the huge success they say

It'll be interesting to see the different council strategies based on their assessment of local risks. I'll see who my council want to test soon.

Interesting to see how it works - I live in one of those given tests but my GP is in a different area!

@TinyTear

10000??? for mass testing in Camden?? ahahhahhahahahhah

why that particular one so amusing @Tinytear?

How do you get to do one of the tests?

Most local authorities are split into electoral wards each with a similar number of people. Just checked and my LA has 22 wards, approximately 16K people in each ward so invitation according to ward address could be feasible.

It might be more effective to do one per household, because the whole household has to isolate if one is infected.

They also seem to be using these tests for the uni students before Christmas as well

Oh my town is on!

They’ve not really grasped the underlying concepts of this whole mass testing thing have they?

Surely these should be going to schools and unis rather than general population at the moment ?!

Isn’t it for the LA to decide how to use them ?

These all sound like tier 2 & 3

Wonder if "essex" means essex county council... so doesn't include southend and Thurrock

How do you define a town on that list? My postcode is for one of the towns listed, but technically I live outside of that borough - so am I eligible or not?

I don't think I'll be queuing up regardless. Save them for the kids who have a cold, but technically could be Covid, then at least if they test negative they can get back to school. Seems a better use of the tests than testing me when I'm working from home and barely see anyone all day.

Local authorities can use as they wish. It has been suggested that some can be used for visitors for care homes.
I would say schools particularly secondary is a good idea, at least the ones where there are lots of cases.
But I heard that some lateral flow tests have accuracy well under 50%. Not sure if these are the same or are better.
I hope they are used wisely in any case.

@williowrosenburg yes it will refer to council areas so if Southend and Thurrock are unitary authorities not them (yet). That said Hancock said that all councils were invited it's just the 66 that agreed.