Britons blame the absence of coronavirus testing for lateral flow on the people who kept their kits in the cupboards ahead of Christmas.
The shortage of test results across the nation this week was blamed on panic-inducing public hoarding.
England had no home delivery lateral flow test on Friday, so punters went to the pharmacies in droves before going out to end-of-year parties.
According to the government’s website, there weren’t any slots available for kits because Britons were eager to test them in advance of the holiday break.
Ministers encouraged people to visit their nearest pharmacy to get a test before going on holiday.
However, staff reported being overwhelmed by the large number of visitors and faced vicious abuse from angry customers.
According to the chief of England’s largest pharmacy, he is concerned about claims that employees were subjected to vile treatment by strangers while waiting for their test.
PCR tests were available free of charge in the United States today, despite the lateral flow problem. Each UK site reported having stocks of kits that could be dispersed.
Other places in Covid Chaos today:
- Premier League leaders will meet Monday in order to discuss a holiday shutdown as football’s clubs experience outbreaks.
- G7 ministers christened Omicron the “biggest threat to global public safety”
- Last night, anger at the UK Government’s insistence on silence regarding Britain’s Omicron deaths was increasing
- To combat Omicron in Wales, Wales will ban nightclubs from closing and socially disengage offices following Christmas.
- Yesterday, after France confirmed that British tourists would not be allowed to travel there, all tickets for France went quickly out of stock.
Britons blame the inability to test for lateral flow coronavirus on the people who have been stashing their Christmas gifts away. Pictured here: This is a picture taken in a north London pharmacy this week
A tweet by one man showed this map that shows there weren’t any lateral flow coronavirus test available in his section of central London.
England did not have lateral flow testing available in England for home delivery on Friday. This caused punters to rush to pharmacies for a check before they headed out to their end of the year celebrations.
Below is a map showing the share of Covid cases triggered in England by Omicron. The variant is dominant in London where it’s believed that 60 percent of the cases have been triggered.
Users on social media slammed the government for not providing enough lateral flow testing this week. They claimed some people were hoarding them.
One woman stated, “This’s what we’re dealing.” The young people are hoarding the lateral flow test results so that they can continue clubbing.
Another wrote, “We ran out of Lateral flow test as well.” They’ve been kept in a hoard. “One man stated that he had a large collection of LFTs and was hoarding them since summer. He wanted to have the winter version.
The person added online: ‘If you want one I’ll charge same as the travel tests £85 a pop.’ Another man shared his thoughts on Twitter. It’s not surprising. It was garbage.
“You can look back at my tweets taken in post-pandemic times and find complete confusion. Lateral Flow Tests were the answer. “Panic-inducing public hoarding” was the missing link.
One more added: ‘My neighbour who works from home with his wife and has no children – He has been to a local pharmacy & brought home 10 boxes of #Covid lateral flow tests!!
“That’s 70 tests, or one per day for them both for the next 35-days – This behavior is an illness in and of itself.
This is the total number of Omicron-related cases in the UK. The numbers are broken down by countries.
After shortages over the previous day, Gov.uk Friday stated there weren’t any lateral flow tests that could be delivered in England.
The notice contained an apology note and encouraged people to get a kit at their nearest pharmacy or collection point, if they didn’t have Covid symptoms.
According to health bosses, those who are concerned about the virus may use all tests that their kids have sent back from school.
An email message said: “The 119 service has no access to additional home delivery slots at the moment.” Tests cannot be ordered from NHS 111/999.
The calls to Britons to visit pharmacies or local collections points to pick up their kit came after a warning from the NHS: staff are being abused.
He claimed that the largest English pharmacy boss had told him workers were ‘powerless’ because customers ran into shops to get tests.
According to Alastair Bulton, Director of NHS Services for the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee, some of his 11200 stores had been ransacked in order to sell kits.
He warned that he was worried about employees being abused by those who can’t get access to tests.
It said: ‘Although pharmacies are still receiving daily deliveries of tests, in many locations, these are very rapidly being used up.
‘We have asked for pharmacies to be able to order additional stock… but this is apparently not possible – so pharmacies have no way to order tests beyond their usual daily cap, and no plan B if their local distribution centre is out of stock.’
Buxton said to inews that most pharmacies receive daily delivery of test results, but due to high demand this is becoming very scarce.
‘Due to a daily cap imposed by Test and Trace, pharmacies are powerless to order more tests than they already do, so we would ask for patience with pharmacy teams if they have run out – they are all trying to get more stock in as quickly as possible.’
Despite the lateral flows crisis, PCRs appear to have recovered their footing as there were still kits in stock across the nation. On the government website, you could find home testing kits for key workers as well as for the general population.
Despite the lateral flow crisis PCRs seemed to be on the right track, as there were kits available all over the country. On the government website, home testing kits were available both for key workers as well for general population.
All regions of England as well as Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland reported that they had access to it. It comes amid concerns about the poor quality of supplies for travel tests, which is a ‘national issue’.
Former Competition boss Lord Tyrie said that regulators are not sufficiently vigilant to prevent new businesses flooding onto the market.
According to the ex-chief, Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), there should be a massive clean-up of any providers that are listed on gov.uk.
According to him, companies should pay back testing costs if they are not completed on time and be reachable via phone or email.
Former watchdog boss said that each business should have customer satisfaction scores and reviews.
Ex-Tory MP said to the Guardian that the fact that the taskforce existed and was monitoring the things almost definitely had a deterrent impact.
CMA must have a few people who are dedicated to this terrible cause. This is becoming an enormous rip off.
Experts warned yesterday that lateral flow tests could be failing to detect thousands of Omicron Covid cases every day.
The rapid kits are effective in identifying the variant, according to health officials. They can be done in under 15 minutes.
However, scientists claim that Omicron’s widespread spread is so extensive that many infected Britons have been misled into believing they are positive.
Free tests form a crucial part of Plan B at No10. Vaccinated contacts of positive patients are told to make use of them for seven days instead of isolating. To be allowed into football stadiums, people who have not been vaccinated must provide proof that they had a negative test.
In an effort to stop Omicron spreading, officials have also encouraged the public to use their kits prior to meeting with loved ones during the Christmas season.
MailOnline was told by experts that positive cases will be missed and they advised people to not test for Omicron infections too frequently in times of shortage. Top scientists also warn that PCR tests may not be as efficient as lateral flow tests. These tests require a laboratory to process and take longer turnarounds. They can pick up fewer Omicron cases.
Real-world proof shows these tests are only half as reliable as PCRs.
Omicron spreading rapidly across Britain with over a million lateral streams per day, this could mean that false positives are being given to thousands.
Ministers worry that the strain which has already become a dominant one in London is now infecting up to 200,000 people each day.
A microbiologist from the University of Reading Dr Simon Clarke said that negative results are not proof of a person being infected.
According to the current level of swabbing across England, even a one-percent false negative rate can lead to false diagnosis of virus-free status for thousands.
Numerous Britons reported that their lateral flows tests were not positive, and they were then confirmed by PCR.
And one A&E doctor in London claimed he tested negative after using a lateral flow test that told him to only swab his nose. However, when he tried the same test for a throat sample, it was positive.
This comes after thousands have been unable to obtain the test this week due to the government repeatedly stopping order placements. On some days, the supply of chemicals has even run out.
Officials claimed there are many test options and that they had entered into new arrangements with Amazon and Royal Mail in order to provide more testing to customers at their homes.
People without symptoms of lateral flow should not be given them. Those who have no symptoms can take a PCR. Then, laboratory technicians will analyse it.
According to UKHSA, preliminary evidence suggests that lateral flow tests can detect Omicron just as well as Delta. The UKHSA will soon publish information on efficacy rates.
Fears were raised when a South African expert raised alarm over the super-variant and warned that lateral flow was less sensitive than Omicron.
Chair of South African Medical Association Dr Angelique Coetzee told the Science and Technology Committee that the rapid tests still showed false positives early in their life.
“We have many patients that have waited for a week but still feel nauseous. They then do PCR to confirm their diagnosis.
Ministers were told by Dr Susan Hopkins that positive tests will be performed for both people with symptoms and patients without them.
She said to the MPs, “They have been very effective now for almost one-year in the UK population.
It will catch about 50% of the cases as compared with PCR. However, it will pick up about 80% or more of high virus levels and people at highest risk for transmitting it to others.
Elle added that the public health recommends to have a lateral flow in order to be able to socialize right now.
MailOnline received a statement from Dr Clarke that while a negative result is an indicator of someone being likely to be negative, it isn’t proof.
However, he stated that it would be better for positive cases to be isolated than daily lateral flows testing. This would mean too many people staying at home.
Clarke explained that while the tests may reduce the amount of people infected who go out spreading the virus but they won’t eradicate them.