Covid: Nurse verbally abused as lateral flow test demand rises

About 290,000 home testing kits have been handed out on the island already

Police have condemned a verbal attack on a nurse amid a surge in demand for lateral flow tests on the Isle of Man.

The woman was abused by two men outside Kinrade's pharmacy in Douglas on 22 July at about 10:45 BST, before one tried to grab a bag containing tests for the family of a hospital patient.

The men had accused nurses of taking all the available tests, police said.

Appealing for witnesses, Det Con Alison Parker said the nurse had been left "shaken and disgusted" by the attack.

About 50,000 Covid-19 lateral flow test kits were delivered on Thursday.

Some 25,000 have already been delivered to pharmacies and civic centre hubs, while the remaining home testing kits will be distributed on Friday.

There has been a surge in demand for the tests since isolation rules for close contacts of positive Covid-19 cases were significantly eased.

The latest supplies came after stocks of more than 100,000 home testing kits, which were distributed on Monday, ran out in about 48 hours.

The tests are currently available to anyone on the island and are handed out in packs of seven.

Plans are in place for further supplies of 130,000 to be delivered each week "for the foreseeable future" subject to availability, a government spokeswoman said.

Health Minister David Ashford previously confirmed the tests cost £2.75 each, which means the government are set to spend about £1.4m on the devices a month, if demand continues at its current rate.