Matt Hancack little summary...1 Sep 2020 20:43
But when pressed by Labour, and Tory health select committee chairman Jeremy Hunt, Han**** made clear he wanted the “on the spot” tests to be used as soon as they were approved by regulators and by testing experts at Public Health England’s Porton Down laboratory.
“It’s my intention to deploy as much testing as possible using the new testing innovations that are coming on-stream and to deploy it as widely as possible following clinical advice,” he told Hunt.
“We’ve set out the process that we propose to use on the current generation of testing capability but if a new, easier type of test gets over the line then, of course, we’ll always keep that under clinical review and guided by the clinicians.”
Han**** said a major breakthrough could be the “rapid test for coronavirus and other winter viruses that’ll help provide on-the-spot results in under 90 minutes helping us to break chains of transmission quickly”.
“These tests do not require a trained health professional to operate them, so they can be rolled out in more non-clinical settings,” he said.
Hunt had asked whether the government intended to introduce regular weekly testing for NHS staff, teachers and others in regular contact with the public who could transmit the virus.
“Surely that is the best way to reassure patients that their hospital is safe and parents that their kids’ school is safe as well,” the former health secretary said.
Asked by Tory MP for Bassetlaw MP Brendan Clarke-Smith if he wanted “the two new groundbreaking tests that can protect coronavirus in as little as 90 minutes” to be “rolled out as quickly as possible, but particularly in care settings”, Han**** replied: “Yes I do.”
He added: “I’ve put everything I’ve possibly got into driving it as fast as possible, subject to it working effectively.”
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