Revised testing strategy set to be unveiled as 10,000+ test capacity a day in Wales remains unused

The Welsh Government is set to release a revised testing strategy by the end of next week amid calls for a relaxing of ‘tight’ criteria for testing.

In answer to one of our questions on testing on Monday, First Minister Mark Drakeford revealed the new testing capacity for Wales was around 15,000 tests a day.

At the time of writing Public Health Wales (PHW)have said there were 3,174 tests in the last 24 hour period, a figure has not vastly changed over recent days.

Yesterday we asked Health Minister Vaughan Gething about that unused testing quota, and after speaking with the Chief Executive of Wrexham Council Ian Bancroft who indicated it would be ‘lovely’ to dip in to more testing capacity as an authority if the criteria loosened, if such a criteria review or change was being looked at.

Mr Gething replied: “It’s the reality that any member of the public can secure a test if they’re symptomatic.

“So we already have wide public availability. At this point in time, the evidence still isn’t there to suggest we should have a widespread program of testing groups of people who don’t have symptoms.

“We’ve run specific programs in care homes, for example, with staff and residents. We’ve also run specific programs in other workplaces where we know there’s an incident or an outbreak.

“I’m of course continuing with our scientists and chief medical officer to review whether there is a real benefit in changing the criteria to have more asymptomatic testing.

“But the challenge is that if you have a test that is as specific and accurate as a one we have with 98% accuracy, that does mean that if you had whole population testing, you’d still find 2% of people with false positives, a positive result, but actually they don’t actually have coronavirus.

“There’s a risk that we could drive more people into isolating unnecessarily. That’s a significant factor for us to consider.

“I can though say that I’m expected to have a revised testing strategy with updated advice, information and evidence to underpin it and I expect to be able to publish our revised strategy before the end of this Senedd term so by the end of next week the latest.”

Carers World followed up on the answers, and asked the minister about evidence that suggests only one in three with positive tests reported any evidence of symptoms at the time of their swab test, and asked if actions should be prioritised to “protect the public at large, against the majority showing no symptoms?”

He replied: “Well, the asymptomatic reality that some people will have COVID-19 potentially infectious is part of what we’re looking to review in our testing strategy. It’s a real cause of not just interest, but concerned why scientists are giving advice to the government here.

“We are still in a position where the current evidence suggests that with low transmission rates, we’re not currently in a position where we need to take large scale testing of people without symptoms, but that may change.

“I’ve had to say on a number of occasions during the course of this pandemic to date, that we’re in a very uncomfortable position to the public and decision makers where we’re living with an element of uncertainty.

“If the evidence changes again, then I’ll be happy to reconsider my position and to make a different choice to help keep Wales safe. At this point in time, we’re still in a position where we don’t need to change that for now, but as I get the new testing strategy with the evidence that underpins it, it’s possible that in the future we’ll make a different choice.

“The starting point is the best thing to keep yourself safe, is to remember the social distancing rules, and of course, remember to wash your hands frequently as well.”