At a time like this, our communities must come together to support, but more importantly, protect, each other. I want to thank you all for adopting the Government’s lockdown measures with such a sense of national spirit. You can save lives.
Our community is already in mourning, as we lose friends and loved ones here in Rutland. My heartfelt sympathies and condolences go out to all those mourning. To lose someone at any time is painful beyond belief, and I recognise that in the current circumstances that loss is compounded.
We will heal our nation. It will take time and further sacrifice, but there is hope.
The Government’s new testing strategy is swiftly ramping up as we work to test 25,000 patients a day, build a new network of labs and testing sites, and by undertake population sampling to ascertain what proportion of the population has had COVID-19.
I’ve had many people write to me asking why we have not rolled out some of the online tests available for COVID-19. There are two types of tests. The first we currently have available, it’s an anti-gen test which takes a swab of the throat or nose and shows how much of the virus (RNA) you have in your system. You need to have sufficient amounts of the virus in your system for you to test positive. Therefore, it can only be given to those currently suffering from COVID-19 symptoms. It is very helpful to make sure we know if patients have COVID-19 or something else so that they get the right treatment. Every patient who has needed one has received one of these tests.
The second kind of test is the antibody test. This is the most useful test and is currently being trialled by the Government with nine companies. Taking the time to trial these tests is vital, as the Government found in one trial, that a test many people have written to me asking the NHS to roll out, gave the wrong result three-quarters of the time.
There is one thing far more dangerous than no tests, the wrong test. Our most vulnerable and NHS frontline workers deserve accurate tests and we will not accept anything less.
Ultimately nothing will end this pandemic except a vaccine. I am proud that no Government in the world has donated more to the global effort to develop a vaccine than the UK, and there are positive steps as the first clinical trials with humans have begun. I will keep urging the Government to do all it can to ensure we have the right tests as soon as possible, and I must say, I have been massively reassured by Ministers’ commitment to investigating all possible options to accelerate viable testing options.
In the meantime, we all must continue staying home to save lives. As I said earlier: it will take time and further sacrifice, but there is hope.
In these unprecedented times, the people who put themselves at great personal risk daily to care for the most vulnerable in our communities are true heroes. We must ensure they feel our sincere gratitude for their altruism and valour long after our country has healed.
