No Staff To Swab Dozens Who Turned Up At North East Coronavirus Test Site
Dozens of drivers turned up at a test site to find there were no staff to swab them, on the day the health secretary announced tougher coronavirus measures for people in the north-east.
People who had booked a test on Thursday at Doxford Park, an out-of-town business park in Sunderland, were told by the media they would not be tested, as there were no officials there to inform them.
Some had been turned away on the approach to the centre by security guards, who told them the computers had crashed and to try again later.
Regulations for the local restrictions in Northumberland, Newcastle, North and South Tyneside, Gateshead, Sunderland and County Durham were published by the government on Thursday evening.
From midnight, residents in these areas were banned from socialising in homes or gardens with people outside their own households or support bubble.
Food and drink venues were restricted to table service only and leisure and entertainment venues were required to close between 10pm and 5am, although takeaways can still provide home deliveries during these times.
Some 2,350 pubs and restaurants ware affected by the measures, according to real estate adviser Altus Group.
The changes, which run alongside the England-wide six-person limit on social gatherings, will be reviewed by the Health Secretary every two weeks.
Almost two million people in the North East are subject to the restrictions, officially announced by Matt Hancock in the House of Commons just before lunch on Thursday.
The leaders of seven local councils had previously written to the government asking for additional measures to be put in place.
Hancock said: “We’ve seen concerning rates of infection in parts of the north-east.
“Sunderland, for example, now has an incidence rate of 103 positive cases per 100,000 population.
“And in South Tyneside, Gateshead and Newcastle, figures are all above 70.”
Labour MPs in the north-east welcomed the new measures outlined by Hancock, while urging the government to...
