I had 2 different COVID tests today both negative although both results not conclusive:
- a walk in lateral flow test at Canary Wharf that was v quick & easy except for putting the swab up my noise 😝
- an anti-bodies test (via a pinprick of blood) that I paid for at @BupaUK
1/
The Canary Wharf NHS free test was at level 2, Jubilee Place, Canary Wharf, E14 5NY (the M&S side)
Currently a walk up rapid test site
Open 07.30am to 4.30pm daily
There was a short queue when I arrived but moved quickly
Having a smartphone with you made it very easy
When I
2/
filled in the webform when there it asked various questions e.g. age, location, ethnicity, sex so that they could track nationally the results all done by bar code
I could not remember my NHS number but the system obviously matched my name, address, DoB to my NHS records later
3/
The only difficult bit was swabbing myself (as never done before)
If you watch this video explains how to do it but discomfort momentary

Lateral flow tests are very quick but not 100% accurate, they test whether COVID active now in your noise and throat
4/
The BUPA test I paid for at their centre at Canary Wharf
It is an anti-body test that checks whether you might have had COVID in the past (not now)
Done by a blood test (finger pin prick), is looking for COVID anti-bodies in the past, is also very fast result
There were none
5/
which might mean I never had COVID or else had a very mild form that left no discernible anti-bodies months later
I paid for it as really curious whether I had it in the past & was asymptomatic
But the results also go to Public Health England as part of their COVID monitoring
6/
More information about testing options locally here
towerhamlets.gov.uk/lgnl/health__s…
Get yourself tested if you need to do it
It is quick and painless (just a little uncomfortable when you swab yourself)
7/
My BUPA result
8/

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More from @Andrewwood17

3 Feb
Last week at the Audit C’tee the Head of Internal Audit at TH Council said “it is my opinion that I can provide Limited
assurance that the authority has adequate systems of governance, risk management and internal control”
This follows major problems with our financial
1/ Image
accounts, we have still not closed the 2018/19 & 2019/20 accounts due to a range of issues found with them
“as well as the breaches of law in relation to Pensions Administration”
But the most shocking (for me) was the new fact revealed that our circa £2.7 billion of assets
2/ Image
are only recorded in an Excel spreadsheet & not a dedicated system (my jaw dropped when I saw that)
We appointed new auditors for the 2018/19 accounts & they found a range of problems which also affected 2019/20 as well
The Council has brought in a number of excellent senior
3/ ImageImage
Read 8 tweets
1 Feb
ASDA Crossharbour planning application update
Two main changes:
- 25% affordable housing (up from 17%)
- Won't now re-provide the petrol station on site
Details here
crossharbour-dc.co.uk
25% affordable is similar to many other developments approved around 2012-16, but later
1/
developments got closer to the policy required of 35% e.g. Skylines
But ASDA is financially difficult as need to be built in two phases, need to build new ASDA store + new primary school + 20,000 sq ft community hub for TH Council + £50m CIL meant I did not expect them to
2/
deliver 35% but I wonder if 25% is developer thinking they cannot sell apartments for as much post-COVID as pre-COVID? In 2015 Council underestimated price of apartments sold in the future
But there should be a late stage review which means if apartments sold for more then
3/
Read 7 tweets
29 Jan
New COVID drop-in rapid test centre now open in Jubilee Place, Canary Wharf
Has opened in the former Schuh unit in lower Jubilee Place mall (opposite Pretty Ballerinas and Black Sheep Coffee) today
It is the lowest level of the mall in which M&S is
towerhamlets.gov.uk/lgnl/health__s…
1/
located but one level down
It will operate 07:30 – 16:30 every day for use by key workers, those who cannot work from home and their households
Please note the following before accessing the testing centre:
Testing is being made available for key workers including public
2/
sector, construction, retail etc who otherwise cannot work from home, and therefore must travel to work, along with their households
Testing is provided for people who are not experiencing symptoms of COVID-19. If you are experiencing any symptoms of COVID-19 you must use the
3/
Read 5 tweets
23 Jan
17 new Council apartments cost £8.4 million to build = £494,117 per apartment
Land already Council opened so free in effect but does not include architects, consultation, site preparation, planning, fit out costs maybe another £100k?
Total cost circa £600k with no land cost
1/
This illustrates one reason why property is so expensive locally, not cheap to build
But also concerns that like Croydon, TH Council building lots of small developments maybe losing economies of scale?
Also loss of estate gardens & trees on Council land. Better to concentrate
2/
Council development on fewer but bigger developments to get better economies of scale but they seem unwilling to do that even selling land they own to others to develop
3/
Read 4 tweets
20 Jan
Important counter to the narrative that Tower Hamlets is poor
TH Council estimates that it will have £458 million in reserves this March
& can generate at least another £71 million in asset sales
Both numbers probably understatements
Most of this £ comes with some restrictions
1/
So for example parking reserve can only be spent on transport related activity, same with schools
But New Homes Bonus reserve is increasing in value & can be spent on anything
The Council usually underspends its Capital budget so I expect reserves will be ⬆️ then these numbers
2/
Asset sales do not include value of some valuable primary school sites nor Jack Dash House which Council did want to sell at one point so £71 million is an understatement I suspect even with weaker market
But a lot of these reserves should be spent on capital projects
3/
Read 4 tweets
20 Jan
Based on my rough calculation government has issued IT devices to around 20% of school children in Tower Hamlets
The highest number of any London authority & 8th highest in the country
Devices given to the Council + schools trusts = 8,789
45,000 pupils in Borough schools = 20%
1/
The 1,538 devices given to trusts is an undercount as I think I am missing a couple trusts so may update later
Source
…e-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistic…
Up to 17th January so some devices may not be in children's hands yet + no detail on what devices issued
Distribution continues
2/
Will be interesting to get more detail on both but clear that central government is giving children in Tower Hamlets a lot of devices compared to other local authorities reflecting deprivation data
3/
Read 4 tweets

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