THREAD
The private company which has taken public money to manage the shambolic testing operation in Wales recorded a 53% rise in half-year trading profits, to £77.8 million, in August this year.
The outsourcing giant Serco had its contract extended in August for test, track and trace. This was in spite of the fact that it had contacted less than half of the contacts of people who tested positive for Coronavirus, and costing over £900 for each person traced.
The Welsh government bought into the scheme but it has been unable to cope in recent weeks, with reports flooding in of people waiting several days before being able to book a test.
On Tuesday the leader of Rhondda council warned that the failure of the Serco run sites - which said they had 'run out of tests' - would trigger another national lockdown because people didn't know whether they had the virus or not, meaning spreading was far more likely.
Now NHS Wales has been forced to come in and set up more mobile testing units but Serco have still made a handsome profit out of the crisis. It is unlikely that they will be fined. The boss of Serco is Rupert Soames - brother of Tory MP Nicolas Soames.
The latest lockdown in RCT is often blamed on the actions of individuals, but as schools were re-opened and people encouraged to go back to work, the need for mass testing was always going to be high.
The failure of a privatised system where multiple firms are subcontracted and disjointed is a major part of why Covid cases are rising across Wales.
FULL STORY: voice.wales/nightmare-priv…
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