Leeds won’t be mass Covid testing city until council’s questions are answered

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Tuesday that mass coronavirus testing will be rolled out across 66 local authorities, but this will not include Leeds.

Leeds Council is instead waiting to see how effective the national pilots are and still wants some questions answered.

The authority's concerns include the quality and sensitivity of the tests and how mass testing will be linked to financial and broader support to self-isolate.

The lateral flow tests have a turnaround time of under an hour and are for people who live and work in the areas and do not have symptoms.

A spokesperson for Leeds Council said: “We are committed to fighting coronavirus in our city and are actively encouraging residents to get a test if they develop symptoms.

“While there may be opportunities for mass testing in some areas, we still have some key questions to be answered which need to be considered.

“We are currently waiting to see how effective the national pilots are, in the hope that they will answer some of our concerns around:

->The quality and sensitivity of the tests

->The implications of false positives and false negative results

-> The impact on workforces and services

-> How tests will be managed and link with NHS Test and Trace and our local tracing and support team.

-> How mass testing will be linked to financial and broader support to self-isolate

“We will continue to use the best evidence to provide the most accessible and effective testing for people in Leeds.”

Yorkshire authorities Calderdale, Doncaster, East Yorkshire, Hull and Wakefield will be amongst the 66 who will receive the testing after expressing an initial interest.

The tests have been available since Friday November 6 in Liverpool.

Matt Hancock said he had written to every director of public health in England on Monday November 9 offering to make the tests available and he is expecting more to sign up.

Other areas that will initially follow the Liverpool mass testing pilot include Nottinghamshire, Manchester and the West Midlands.

Speaking to Sky News on Tuesday Matt Hancock said: “I can confirm that we are rolling out the sort of mass testing we are seeing in Liverpool, and indeed we earlier piloted in Stoke-on-Trent, across 66 local authorities.

“Last night I wrote to the directors of public health of all local authorities in England saying we can make available these brilliant new lateral flow tests that give results in 15 minutes, and we can make them available to directors of public health right across the country.

“Sixty-six expressed an interest in the first instance, I’m now expecting a whole load more.”

Mr Hancock also said that mass testing, like a vaccine rollout, would be across the UK not just England.

He added: “The UK Government has bought the vaccine for the whole of the UK and it will be rolled out fairly across the whole of the UK with the same prioritisation no matter where you live in this country.

“The same goes for mass testing, making sure we roll that out across the whole UK.”

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Mr Hancock said the “much more versatile” lateral flow tests would be rolled out in Nottinghamshire as well as “across Yorkshire, the West Midlands, other parts of the North West and the whole of the North East and other parts”.

On Friday, queues built up outside the new test centres which opened at midday, with people waiting around 45 minutes outside the Liverpool Tennis Centre – one of the six facilities – before it opened.

Liverpool’s director of public health, Matt Ashton, on Saturday said the mass testing was showing positive signs after thousands of people were tested on the first day of the pilot scheme.

The programme aims to test up to 50,000 people a day once fully operational, he added.

The city’s mayor, Joe Anderson, on Monday said 23,170 people have been tested for coronavirus in the city since midday on Friday, with 0.7% testing positive.