No big drop in number of Covid-19 swabs being carried out in Northamptonshire, say Public Health officials

"We know demand has significantly increased but there is no significant change in number of tests"
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Public Health officials say there has been no big drop in the number of people getting coronavirus tests in Northamptonshire.

County Public Health Consultant Rhosyn Harris revealed on Tuesday that appointments are being limited due to a national shortage of capacity in labs.

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Residents with symptoms have shared stories about being turned away from empty testing units because they do not have an appointment.

One site worker in the county revealed their unit had gone from doing up to 650 tests a day in late-August to an average of 150-200 in the last fortnight.

Yet the team leading the county's response to the Covid-19 pandemic today insisted there has been "no significant change" in the number of tests being done and the problems are solely down to more people wanting tests.

A spokesman for Public Health Northamptonshire said: "We do not routinely release testing figures.

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"But there is no significant change in number of tests in the county between August 19 and September 1 and between September 2 and September 15.

Many have been turned away from the county's testing sites as demand risesMany have been turned away from the county's testing sites as demand rises
Many have been turned away from the county's testing sites as demand rises

"However, we know that demand has significantly increased."

According to Government figures, 404 positive swabs from Northamptonshire were processed by labs between August 19 and September 1. That dropped by around 25 per cent to 306 for the two-week period between September 2 and 15.

Testing and tracing contacts of positive cases has been the backbone of the local Public Health team's response to rising infection rates in the county.

The number of positive tests in each area published daily and Thursday's latest data revealed seven new cases were reported in Northampton and none in Corby — the two boroughs on Public Health England's watchlist as areas of concern.

Kettering's testing site produced no new cases according to yesterday's Government figuresKettering's testing site produced no new cases according to yesterday's Government figures
Kettering's testing site produced no new cases according to yesterday's Government figures
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Kettering, which was only removed from the list of potential hotspots last Friday, also saw just two new cases.

Two more in Daventry and one in South Northants made up 12 new cases in the county — the lowest daily figure in more than two weeks.

Northamptonshire's Public Health team insists the figures still give an accurate picture despite so many people with symptoms being able to get tested.

A spokesman added: "We use many sources of intelligence to try to understand pressures on the system, including feedback from community leaders and our NHS colleagues.

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"We also track the percentage of tests that are returned positive, and we expect if the advice is taken for only those with symptoms to get tested that the percentage of tests which are returned positive should increase."

Northamptonshire County Council will hold its latest weekly media briefing today (Friday). You can follow all the latest announcements on the Chronicle & Echo and Northants Telegraph websites from 3pm.