This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-52070199
The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Health workers on frontline to be tested in England | Health workers on frontline to be tested in England |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Health workers on the frontline in England will start being tested this weekend to see if they have coronavirus, the government has announced. | Health workers on the frontline in England will start being tested this weekend to see if they have coronavirus, the government has announced. |
| Tests will be rolled out to critical care doctors and nurses first followed by staff in emergency departments, paramedics and GPs. | Tests will be rolled out to critical care doctors and nurses first followed by staff in emergency departments, paramedics and GPs. |
| It follows mounting criticism from NHS staff over a lack of testing. | It follows mounting criticism from NHS staff over a lack of testing. |
| Currently, only seriously-ill patients in hospital are being tested. | Currently, only seriously-ill patients in hospital are being tested. |
| 'Safe to return to work' | |
| At the daily news conference on the virus epidemic, Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove said antigen testing - which checks whether people currently have the disease - would give health and social care workers "security in the knowledge that they are safe to return to work if their test is negative". | |
| He added: "These tests will be trialled for people on the frontline starting immediately, with hundreds to take place by the end of the weekend - dramatically scaling up next week." | He added: "These tests will be trialled for people on the frontline starting immediately, with hundreds to take place by the end of the weekend - dramatically scaling up next week." |
| Sir Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England, said it was "urgently important that we are able to test frontline workers who are off sick or otherwise isolating". | Sir Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England, said it was "urgently important that we are able to test frontline workers who are off sick or otherwise isolating". |
| He said that would mean the number of tests carried out doubling by the end of next week. | He said that would mean the number of tests carried out doubling by the end of next week. |
| And he indicated that testing would be widened out to cover more workers, including essential public service workers and social care workers, as capacity increased. | |
| Testing of patients was "vital" and will continue, Sir Simon added. | Testing of patients was "vital" and will continue, Sir Simon added. |
| Three new labs | |
| The first of three new laboratories is expected to start operating over the weekend and will initially process around 800 samples, the government said. | |
| The two other labs are currently being set up and will be opening soon. | |
| This is all being done with the help of universities, research institutes and companies such as Boots, which are lending their testing equipment for use in the labs. | |
| Samples from frontline health workers in coronavirus hotspots like London will be tested first. |