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Lack of Covid-19 tests 'inexcusable'

Stormont health minister Robin Swann has come under fire over coronavirus testing. Picture by Hugh Russell
Stormont health minister Robin Swann has come under fire over coronavirus testing. Picture by Hugh Russell Stormont health minister Robin Swann has come under fire over coronavirus testing. Picture by Hugh Russell

A LACK of testing kits for healthcare staff treating coronavirus patients has been branded "inexcusable" as the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in Northern Ireland jumped by 85 to a total of 774.

Figures released yesterday by the Public Health Agency (PHA) showed there were 85 new cases within 24 hours. It was also revealed that six more people have died as a result of Covid-19, bringing the number of fatalities in Northern Ireland to 36.

Speaking at Stormont's Health Committee yesterday, health minister Robin Swann described efforts to ramp up testing across the north, including the creation of testing stations at local MoT centres and the SSE Arena in Belfast.

"We haven't pushed it as hard or as fast as I would like it to have been, but every day we see changes and developments in our testing capability," he said.

However, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) in Northern Ireland has demanded answers on why Covid-19 testing kits made in the north are being shipped to other parts of the UK, at the expense of local healthcare staff.

RCN director Pat Cullen said the organisation would write to both First Minister Arlene Foster and Mr Swann to express concern after he said test kits produced locally were unavailable for local NHS workers. Ms Cullen also hit out at the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) including face masks.

"Nurses in Northern Ireland will, quite rightly, be asking what on earth is going on in relation to PPE and testing for health care staff," she said.

Lack of Covid-19 tests 'inexcusable'
Lack of Covid-19 tests 'inexcusable'

"It is quite unbelievable that tests that are being produced on our doorstep cannot be accessed for staff here who are beginning to feel, once again, like the poor relation to our counterparts in Scotland, England and Wales."

Sinn Féin MLA and chair of the health committee Colm Gildernew said after yesterday's committee hearing: "I find it inexcusable that our health department is not even attempting to acquire these locally produced testing kits to deliver the essential increase in testing and testing capacity that we now so obviously need.

"The minister for health has stewardship for delivering on the health and well-being of citizens here through our health and social care system. There can be no bureaucratic foot dragging by the minister or his department officials in relation to community testing and that of frontline workers.

"This is an unprecedented crisis and we need an unprecedented response."

Meanwhile 13 more people have died in the Republic from Covid-19 bringing the number of fatalities in the state to 98. There were also 402 new cases of Covid-19 confirmed bringing the total number of cases there to 3,849.

Tánaiste Simon Coveney told a briefing yesterday that stringent social distancing measures would likely continue "for some time" in a bid to lower the rate of new infections and relieve pressure on healthcare workers.

In London meanwhile it was revealed that another 569 people have died after contracting coronavirus, taking the total UK death toll to 2,921. This has been the largest daily increase in deaths since the outbreak began.

With confirmed cases in the UK standing at 33,718, UK health minister Matt Hancock said plans were underway to test 100,000 people per day by the end of April, using both antigen tests to show if a patient is currently infected with the disease, and antibody tests to show if they have been previously infected.

"I will stop at nothing to make sure that frontline staff have the right equipment so that they are safe and can have the confidence they need to do their jobs," he said.