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CASE STUDY: LIVERPOOL MASS TESTING

Case Study: Liverpool mass testing

Introduction

Liverpool Mass Testing: Why The City Required 15-Minute COVID-19 Tests

On 6 November 2020, Liverpool became the first city in England to roll out mass testing of its population for COVID-19.

At the time, Liverpool had one of the highest rates of COVID-19 in England (410.4 per 100 000 for 18-25 October) and was the first area of England to be placed under very high alert.

All people living or working in Liverpool were offered COVID-19 tests, regardless of whether they had symptoms, under a government pilot scheme.

Several COVID-19 indicating tests were used, including the Healgen COVID-19 antigen test (Lateral flow swab).

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PRODUCT ADVANTAGES

Why Liverpool chose rapid 15-minute COVID-19 tests

Unlike PCR tests, which involve complex laboratory equipment and highly trained staff, lateral flow tests can be processed on the spot and return a result far quicker.

Cost
Effective

Instant
Results

Extreamly
Accurate

Ease
Of Use

In detail

How Liverpool became Britain's COVID-19 test pilot

The rapid COVID-19 testing pilot was rolled out in order to try and control the overwhelming spread of the virus and prevent anyone exposed to the virus from being forced to self-isolate.

Any Liverpool citizen who came into contact with somebody showing COVID-19 symptoms was offered a rapid test every day for seven days. They were not required to isolate unless any of the rapid tests came back positive.

The Government planned to use the strategy as a pilot before extending the tests to the entire population from 2021, should a vaccine not become available.

The Government took this strategy following research from the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling (SPI-M) and Public Health England, which discovered the risk of the virus spreading amongst infected residents was minimal, should they agree to regular testing.

Joe Anderson, Mayor of Liverpool, said at the time:

“If someone in a class tests positive we can test the other kids to see if they have got it or not. If they don’t and they keep getting regular tests, they won’t have to self-isolate.

“We are going to roll it out for church services, weddings and funerals too.”

The Healgen rapid lateral-flow tests provided a result in 15-30 minutes without the need for laboratory processing, which was a huge advantage to the city.

It’s also the reason why the UK Government spent more than £2billion on hundreds of millions of these rapid pregnancy-style tests between September and November 2020.

The process

So, how does the test work?

01
Take the Test
Residents were required to take a nasal swab test.
02
Process the Test
The test was then instantly processed by Military personal.
03
Deliver the Results
Results are shown in around 15-minutes in a similar style to pregnancy tests.