Displaying items by tag: Covid tests

Urgent testing for the South Africa variant of coronavirus is beginning in Surrey, London, Kent, Hertfordshire, Bristol, Walsall, and Birmingham after cases were found with no known links to travel or previous cases. The variant, which was identified as part of Public Health England's random checks on tests, prompted fears there may be community transmission of the virus. It is not known how many cases have been identified. Mobile testing units have been dispatched to a number of neighbourhoods where the cases have been identified.

Large numbers of Irish trucks have begun transporting goods via ferries to France, to avoid delays on the more traditional route to continental Europe via Britain, which withdrew from EU trading rules on 1 January. Ireland's transport minister said that France may now require rapid Covid tests from Irish truck drivers operating on this route. The new measures would target the more infectious variant of the coronavirus first discovered in England but now widespread in Ireland. The PCR Covid test can take several days. However, a much quicker antigen test can give results in minutes. Whichever test the French decide on, the truckers will have to manage it and ensure they do it without disrupting supply chains. (France’s demand for Covid tests from British drivers in December caused significant delays and disruption.)