Covid-19: Government ramps up “Moonshot” mass testing

Abstract

With covid diagnostic testing set to be rolled out across England, Gareth Iacobucc i examines the latest developments Last week the UK government announced that 67 more areas in England will be given access to rapid diagnostic tests for covid-19 in a major expansion of its Operation Moonshot mass testing programme.1 Manchester, Newcastle, Birmingham, Bristol, and parts of London will be among the areas (box 1) given access to lateral flow tests, which give results in 10 to 30 minutes, to test asymptomatic populations for covid-19. The expansion follows a pilot of mass testing in Liverpool that began on 6 November.2 Box 1 ### The 67 areas in England set to get mass testingRETURN TO TEXT The latest figures, shared with The BMJ , show that as at 16 November the Liverpool pilot had tested 100 000 asymptomatic people, of whom 700 (0.7%) tested positive for covid-19 (box 2). Box 2 ### How is Liverpool’s pilot working? In the first 10 days of mass testing in Liverpool 100 000 asymptomatic people were tested across 34 sites. Of this group, 700 (0.7%) tested positive for covid-19. The pilot has expanded to include children and adolescents, and there are now 48 sites in the Liverpool City Region, open from 7 am to 7 pm. Liverpool’s director of public health, Matt Ashton, said the pilot was measuring the … RETURN TO TEXT