People are seen sunbathing in St James's Park, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), London, Britain, May 18, 2020.
London, United Kingdom - Britain adds loss of taste and smell to Covid-19 symptoms and says that anyone over the age of 5 with signs of having virus can be tested.
Published: Tue 19 May 2020, 4:09 AM
Updated: Tue 19 May 2020, 6:18 AM
British lawmakers on Tuesday heaped fresh pressure on the government for its handling of the coronavirus outbreak, calling its testing regime "inadequate" in the early stages.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been criticised for his initial response to the global pandemic, and has faced weeks of pressure about the availability of tests for the virus.
The country has seen 34,796 deaths -- the second-highest toll in the world behind the United States -- and 246,406 cases, according to the latest figures.
But despite a recent surge in daily tests and the expansion of eligibility, MPs on a parliamentary committee said: "Testing capacity has been inadequate for most of the pandemic so far."
"Capacity was not increased early enough or boldly enough. Capacity drove strategy, rather than strategy driving capacity," they said in a 19-page letter to Johnson.
The findings by the House of Commons science and technology committee come after six sessions of evidence involving scientists, public health experts and government advisers, which also looked at other countries' responses to the virus.
On Sunday, Britain carried out 100,678 tests for coronavirus, but only 1,215 tests were carried out on March 10 -- just two weeks before a nationwide lockdown was ordered and as cases spiked.
MPs said there was "consensus... that testing capacity has been too low".
- Care homes -
The government has also come under sustained pressure about the spread of the virus in care homes, and the testing of front-line health and social care workers.
Official data published last week indicated that more than 12,500 deaths of care home residents were linked to the virus.
The committee said abandoning community testing on March 12 left care home residents and workers unable to get tests "at a time when the spread of the virus was at its most rampant".
The failure by government body Public Health England to publish its testing policy was "unacceptable for a decision that may have had such significant consequences", it added.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock, who maintains care homes were a government priority, on April 2 announced that 100,000 tests a day would be conducted by the end of that month.
MPs said that was "more of a personal initiative by the secretary of state" than a decision based on public health or scientific advice.
But they suggested that having that capacity could have given the government "more options" at an earlier stage of the pandemic.
Lack of testing capacity was also a factor for the decision to stop contact tracing on March 12, the committee said.
Hancock has made an army of contact tracers a key part of a new approach to tackling the spread of the virus, alongside wider community testing and the roll out of a smartphone app.
He announced on Monday that 21,000 contact tracers have been recruited, and testing has been expanded to include everyone aged five and over with symptoms.
A new target of 200,000 tests per day has been set for the end of this month.
The government aims to use data from all three sources to inform its easing of lockdown measures, including the partial reopening of schools.
Meanwhile, Britain added a loss of taste and smell to its list of coronavirus symptoms Monday and broadened eligibility for tests as it seeks to prevent a second wave of cases when the lockdown eases.
"From today, all individuals should self-isolate if they develop a new continuous cough or fever or anosmia," the chief medical officers of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland said.
"Anosmia is the loss or a change in your normal sense of smell. It can also affect your sense of taste as the two are closely linked."
A major study by King's College London last week found that people with a positive test result were three times more likely to report loss of smell and taste than those who returned a negative test.
Report author Tim Spector said that Public Health England's (PHE) previous insistence on only including fever and cough as major symptoms meant thousands of cases were missed.
At the government's daily media briefing, England's deputy chief medical officer, Jonathan Van-Tam, denied this, saying anosmia was usually followed by a cough and fever and so "you don't miss those cases".
But he said it made a "small difference" to improving diagnosis.
The World Health Organization and other countries including the United States also now count it as a symptom.
Johnson's government also announced that anyone over the age of five with coronavirus symptoms could be tested, with more than 100,000 tests a day now being carried out.
Some 21,000 contact tracers have been recruited to try to identify and contain local outbreaks of coronavirus, while a mobile phone app that could be used is currently being trialled.
Johnson has begun urging people back to work in England, but schools and shops are not expected to reopen until at least June 1.
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