Thoughts for what's it's worth on mass testing after a day or two in Liverpool. Our story on @BBCNewsnight tonight reveals that the testing pilot is failing to reach the poorest communities in the city. In some parts, only 4% of residents have turned up to be tested
@DanCardenMP the MP for Walton, a deprived part of the city, relays his belief that people can't afford to self-isolate so don't want to find out they may have the virus. He says the criteria for the Gov's self isolation grant are too tough & 80% of applications are rejected
We know Covid preys on the poorest households; across the country those in overcrowded housing and people who do high risk, people-facing jobs in transport, food production & supermarkets have been badly hit. If you support asymptomatic testing, these people need to be reached.
But in Liverpool that's not happening. We visited several testing sites and all were incredibly quiet. Gone are the first days when people were queuing up it seems. The council accepts take up is patchy & is sending teams out to engage residents in face-to-face conversations.
On Newsnight we've previously looked at the accuracy of the lateral flow tests being used & the number of false positives/negatives. Now this - if hard-to-reach communities aren't getting tested, what value is the testing? And should it be rolled out wider?
The council says it's picked up 800 people without symptoms who would have been missed without the tests. They could have spread Covid into households & communities. But, as one GP put it, if it's only the 'worried well' turning up, Liverpool won't 'get out of the mess it's in'
Boris Johnson announced Liverpool-style mass rapid testing is to be rolled out to all local authorities put into the new Tier 3 to be announced on Thursday. @DHSCgovuk says evaluating the pilot in Liverpool will inform that roll out
It says there are 24 test sites in the city & a home test delivery service. Plus anyone told to self-isolate will be able to apply for the Test and Trace Support Payment if they meet the other eligibility criteria, & local authorities have been given £50 million for the costs
But we understand that local authorities across the north of England have been pushing back against the Gov plan to widen mass testing. They say targeted testing would be better, aimed at high risk groups. But tonight it looks like they are losing that argument
thanks @sallyches for sterling work as ever
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