Profiteers are selling NHS lateral flow kits on eBay for £100 for seven as the shortage continues
Britain’s testing crisis was made even worse after the sole firm tasked with deliveries to pharmacies ‘closed down for Christmas’ as eBay profiteers cash in by selling packs of seven NHS tests for £100 on the eve of the reopening of schools, it was revealed today.
There is no further information on lateral flow testing available today from the Government. Britons are encouraged to Every few hours, check ‘as often as possible. Available every day”
After the Christmas holiday, state schools will be back tomorrow and Wednesday. Secondary students are instructed to take Omicron tests two to three times per week in order to stop the spread. Masks will also be required in class, a policy Boris Johnson previously branded ‘nonsensical’.
But the ongoing shortage of lateral flow tests and predicted staff absences has led to unions unions predicting disruption ‘looks sadly inevitable’ through January.
It was discovered today that the sole company responsible for the distribution of lateral flow test to pharmacies under the government’s control shut down for the holiday period. This just four days after receiving 2.5 million tests.
Alliance Healthcare has been accused of verbally abuse by pharmacists after being ‘closed down’ for Christmas.
Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting told The Times that Wes Streeting was astonished at the inability of the government to plan for the event and provide alternative delivery options. When it comes to England’s Covid test supply, the government is asleep at its wheel.
Pharmacists are up in arms that only Alliance Healthcare was given the contract to deliver the tests, which were ‘patchy and inconsistent’ from Christmas Eve.
Leyla Hanbeck, Chief Executive of the Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies stated: “Two to three weeks ago I wrote to UK Health Security Agency, (UKHSA), in which I explained that demand was increasing rapidly and they are being bombarded daily with inquiries about it. It is difficult to ship because you have given the item to only one wholesaler. [compared with]If there are multiple parties involved in the stock movement, you will need to have multiple depots, warehouses throughout the country as well as vans for all of that moving… stock about. This makes more sense. [than]Having one wholesaler. I have never received any response.
LFTs have proved difficult to obtain for millions of people. However, some are trying to make a profit from the free packs that the government has given to them. All costs paid by taxpayers.
Pharmacy workers claim they were verbally bullied for not being able to test. It is believed that the Government gave the contract for delivery to Alliance Healthcare. Alliance Healthcare closed down during Christmas.
Andrew Lane, chairman of the National Pharmacy Association said that more lateral flow test kits are being distributed to pharmacies. However, supply is still very limited and Lane expects to pick up the packs ‘within the first few hour’ after they arrive today.
He added that pharmacy staff are facing abuse from patients frustrated by being unable to find a test.
Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Mr Lane said: ‘I spoke to the managing director of Alliance Healthcare who are our wholesalers that distribute the tests into pharmacies, and she assured me that they are putting out two million a day and we are starting to see that come through.
‘It is still very patchy though, so I will say that not every pharmacy today will have a box but most pharmacies in the country will be having a box so we just ask the public to persevere, and also treat us with respect.
‘We have had a lot of abuse over the last couple of weeks when the tests haven’t been there, but teams are doing their very best to help the public with this.’
Mr Lane added: ‘A box will contain I think 54 tests and many of our members are reporting that that box is gone within the first couple of hours of arriving within the pharmacy.’
Alliance Healthcare UK has admitted there was a closure between December 25 and 28, starting again on December 29 ‘when the majority of community pharmacies reopened’.
He said: ‘Since the start of the Pharmacy Collect scheme, Alliance Healthcare UK has distributed over 280 million lateral flow tests to community pharmacies across the UK. We distributed more than two million lateral flow tests on Christmas Eve to support a number of community pharmacies that remained open over Christmas Bank Holiday and where stock was available.
‘We continue to distribute around two million lateral flow tests daily from stock made available to us from UKHSA.’
A spokeswoman for the UKHSA said: ‘The UK’s testing programme is the biggest in Europe with almost 400 million tests carried out since the start of the pandemic.
‘We are delivering record numbers of lateral flow tests to pharmacies across the country, with almost eight million test kits being made available to pharmacies between 29 December and New Year’s Eve.’
Entire classes may need to be merged into larger groups or sent home to work remotely due to teacher absences caused by coronavirus, the Education Secretary said yesterday.
Nadhim Zahawi said that schools may not be able to provide face-to-face education to all students because of the Omicron variation, which leads to massive staff shortages.
The Department for Education announced that pupils in secondary schools will be required to use masks when entering classrooms, and they must also test their skills twice per week upon returning.
Yesterday, Zahawi sent an open letter to schools. He stated that remote learning “should not be on a temporary basis” and schools should resume full-time attendance for all students as soon as possible.
He stated that if you have to teach face-to–face because of operational problems or a shortage in the workforce, then I urge you to look at flexible learning options.
LONDON: Cases in the capital have been plateauing recently although holiday reporting glitched could be to blame. Grey bars represent incomplete data.
The schools could use all of their staff to provide on-site support for some students, while the school’s can be flexible in delivering provision to others. But, he said that such arrangements are temporary.
Sajid Javid acknowledged that Covid test supplies will be limited over the coming fortnight due to a ‘huge demand’.
In a letter sent to MPs by the Health Secretary, she warned that it was important to prioritize testing for vulnerable groups such as residents in care homes and staff.
There are concerns that the economy could be hit by supply shortages if workers cannot get the necessary tests to allow them to escape quarantine in time.
Doctors and nurses have been identified by medical unions as among those who are having difficulty accessing tests.
Home deliveries of lateral flows tests were not being accepted by the government website for much of Wednesday. They also weren’t available yesterday morning. [THU]. Last night, online ordering was restored.
Also, pharmacists complained of sporadic supplies.
Ministers have to scramble now for tests around the globe as they fight an “unprecedented” surge in demand due to a rise of infections and changes in self-isolation regulations.
Professor Peter Openshaw is a member of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group. (Nervtag). He said that it was’very concerning’ that people might not be able to test for infection during festive season.
He said that such events offer the ideal conditions for spreading the virus.
Professor Openshaw stated that he found the situation very alarming on BBC Radio 4’s Today program.
“We all know what transmission looks like, but I’m not sure we’re facing the kind of lockdown necessary to deal with it in the first part of 2019.
“But we also know that it is possible to transmit the virus by crowding together, especially in areas with poor ventilation.
In an effort to control the virus, Mr Javid will use over 900 million lateral flow devices.
In December, the UK Health Security Agency increased LFD deliveries by almost 300 million to 120 million.
The government is also expected to triple supply for January and February, from the 100 million-300million mark per month.
Javid stated to MPs that “The arrival of an omicron variant has resulted in record cases and unrivalled demand for both PCR as well as Lateral Flow Device(LFD) testing.”
“This has undoubtedly put stress on the testing system, in spite of the incredible scaling-up supply logistics and laboratory capabilities. Similar challenges have been faced by other countries.
He stated, “We continually review system performance and find ways to increase its response time to customer requests for testing.”
“Nevertheless, due to the overwhelming demand for LFDs in recent weeks, we anticipate that we will have to limit the system at specific points during the next 2 weeks. We also plan to release new supply tranches throughout the day to manage the supply.
There has been a lot of criticism directed at the Government for bringing back face masks. Critics have called it a declaration of war on children (file image).
“We will keep making these tests accessible to all who need them, especially vulnerable groups like care home residents or those working in crucial sectors like the care workforce.”
The UK Health Security Agency previously stated that there is no shortage of supply. Instead, it blamed logistical issues, such as difficulties sending so many test results from its warehouses.
Javid, however, spoke out about his future plans. He said that he was buying additional LFD testing units in order to meet anticipated demand.
Royal Mail has increased its delivery capability to 900,000.00 test packets and PCR tests per day.
“We have tripled the amount of LFDs available in January and February, compared to our 100 million monthly pre-omicron plan. We now supply 300 million LFDs per month.
Javid claimed that the Government’s daily processing capacity in PCR has increased to 700,000. per day, from 530,000 per person in November, and 600,000. per person now.
He added that tests are free in the UK for those with and without symptoms.