Doctors fear second coronavirus surge due to lack of testing

15 September 2020, 19:25

President of the Doctors Association criticises testing scandal

By Seán Hickey

The head of the Doctor's Association fears history will repeat itself and England will see a second coronavirus surge due to the lack of available coronavirus tests.

Dr Samantha Batt-Rawden is the Chair of the UK Doctor's Association and was speaking to Eddie Mair amid the news that no tests are available in England's top 10 hotspots, which was exclusively revealed by LBC.

She told Eddie that "it's a real worry" of British doctors that we may see a second peak of coronavirus imminently as a result of the lack of testing available, which feels like a déjà vu for people working in healthcare.

"We were in exactly the same position in the middle of February, early March when we couldn't access tests."

Dr Batt-Rawden went on to point out "we've had many months to learn from those mistakes and here we are with cases increasing."

Dr Batt-Rawden said we are in the same position on testing now than we were in February. Picture: PA

"We are very worried that we are heading in to a second surge and yet again we're seeing the same problems arise," she admitted.

Eddie Mair noted that, as we've seen in the case of Keir Starmer that the delay in testing has "all sorts of knock-on effects" for families, and the NHS as a result.

Dr Batt-Rawden agreed with the observation, telling Eddie that "people are having to self-isolate when they could, and should be at work."

She noted that when health professionals are affected by the slow testing process, "ultimately that impacts on our patients" as hospitals and surgeries end up short staffed.