Covid: Surge testing needed to 'get ahead of infection'

15 April 2021

Coronavirus

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Long queues formed at a testing site in Clapham on Wednesday

Surge testing in areas where the South African variant has been found means officials can "get ahead of the infection", a health director has said.

Residents in Wandsworth, Lambeth and parts of Barnet and Southwark are being urged to get Covid tests.

Prof Kevin Fenton, London's regional director of Public Health England, said the move was required as variants could "spread relatively quickly".

He added surge testing would continue in order to manage Covid in the future.

The entrance to a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) testing centre is pictured in Barnet

Reuters

Surge testing began in part of Barnet after a case of the variant was identified

More than half a million people have been offered tests in Wandsworth and Lambeth after 44 confirmed and 30 probable cases were identified.

Those living in the Rotherhithe ward of Southwark are also being offered tests, while home-testing kits are being delivered in the N3 postcode area of Barnet.

According to government figures, external, a total of 544 confirmed and probable cases of the South African variant were found in the country overall up to 7 April.

Prof Fenton told the Today programme that more genetic sequencing of positive Covid-19 tests had led to the identification of cases.

He said the lifting of lockdown restrictions meant that "even small numbers of variants... can have the potential to spread relatively quickly" and "that is why we have such a proactive programme of screening".

"We need to get ahead of the infection, and not keep following behind it," he said.

The professor added that surge testing and vaccines were among the measures required to manage Covid in the future.

"These are the package of interventions that we will need to be getting used to as we enter this 'new normal' of living," he said.

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Cases are people who have tested positive for coronavirus. Public health bodies may occasionally revise their case numbers. Case rate by age only available for England. *The "average area" means the middle ranking council or local government district when ranked by cases per 100,000 people.
The case rate chart shows how many people have tested positive each day for every 100,000 people in that area. The dark blue line shows the average daily rate over the past seven days. This average helps to show whether cases are rising or falling. The case rate by age chart shows how many people have tested positive in each age group per 100,000 people. Steeper rises in older age groups are of more concern because older people are more likely to be badly affected by the virus and are more likely to need hospital care. The case rate by age shows a rate. This means the values for the two age groups cannot be added together to get the overall case rate in each area.
Source: UK public health bodies - updated weekdays.

Vaccines are data for first doses. England and Scotland data is by local authority, Wales is by health board area, Northern Ireland is national data. The percentages of people vaccinated is calculated using the most recent mid-year population estimates published by the Office for National Statistics. The actual size of the population in each area may differ and so the percentages are also estimates.
Source: NHS England, Public Health Wales, Public Health Scotland, gov.uk dashboard, Office for National statistics. England and Wales updated weekly. Scotland and Northern Ireland updated weekdays

Deaths are where COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate. The chart shows the number of deaths recorded each week per 100,000 people in that area. Covid deaths are in red, other deaths are in grey. The average is the monthly average of deaths in the last five years between 2014-2019. This average will continue to be used in 2021. Recording of deaths over Christmas and New Year was affected by the bank holidays - trends should be treated with caution.
Source: ONS, NRS and NISRA - data updated weekly.

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Case totals for some local authorities in England fell on Friday due to a change in the way the government reports the results of lateral flow tests.

Covid: Surge testing needed to 'get ahead of infection'

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