Mass Covid testing blitz to be launched as lockdown is lifted
The government is reportedly planning to launch a mass Covid testing blitz in England as lockdown is lifted.
NHS Test and Trace is preparing to send out more than 400,000 rapid lateral flow tests by post each day in a bid to get the country back to normal.
The campaign – provisionally titled “Are you ready? Get testing. Go” – will be rolled out before children return to school.
It is hoped that the scheme will encourage Brits to get tested, even if they do not show symptoms, the Times reported.
The government also hopes the testing campaign will be led by household names.
Yesterday it was announced that surge testing would be carried out in London commuter belt areas due to concerns over a Covid mutation.
Surge testing and genomic sequencing will be carried out in the GU22 postcode in Woking, SO15 in central Southampton and IP22 in Diss to tackle the “variant of concern”.
Read more: Breaking: Entire UK population will ‘probably’ receive two Covid vaccine doses by August
People living in the targeted areas are strongly encouraged to take a Covid-19 test this week whether they are showing symptoms or not, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said in a statement.
The affected postcodes will receive knocks on the door asking them to take coronavirus tests over the coming days.
DHSC added that surge testing in the London borough of Haringey which began last week is now complete and further data on surge testing will be provided in due course.
Other London areas including Lambeth, Ealing and Croydon are still undergoing surge testing as the capital scrambles to fend off cases of “variants of concern”.