Public health planners ‘ignored warnings from WHO to prepare for mass testing’

British health officials ‘IGNORED warnings from WHO to prepare for mass testing in case of a major pandemic as far back as 2005’

  • Officials wrongly believed a new strain of influenza would be next to hit the UK
  • Senior government insider said they reportedly ‘did not discuss’ mass testing
  • The UK’s coronavirus death toll today reached 2,921 amid some 33,718 cases

Public heath planners tasked with protecting Britain from a global health crisis reportedly ignored warnings from the World Health Organisation to prepare for mass testing.

Officials ‘did not discuss’ the need for mass testing because they thought a new strain of influenza would be next to hit the UK, a senior government adviser told the Telegraph

Representatives for Public Health England, the Cabinet Office and the Department of Health consequently opted against community testing – even though they had been told it could slow an outbreak.  

Medical staff are seen testing people at a coronavirus test centre in the car park of Chessington World of Adventures on Thursday

These decisions appear to contradict guidance on bird flu issued to countries by the World Health Organisation in 2005.  

In an advisory document, WHO recommended countries prepare for mass testing in the event of an influenza outbreak because ‘accurate case detection requires the testing of large numbers of samples.’    

Professor Graham Medley, the chairman of SPI-M, admitted the decision to not prepare for community testing ‘may have been a mistake.’

‘Mass public testing has never been our strategy for any pandemic that I’m aware of,’ Professor Medley, who advises the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, said.

Public heath planners tasked with protecting Britain from a global health crisis reportedly ignored warnings from the World Health Organisation to prepare for mass testing

Public heath planners tasked with protecting Britain from a global health crisis reportedly ignored warnings from the World Health Organisation to prepare for mass testing

Officials 'did not discuss' the need for community testing because they believed a new strain of influenza would be the next outbreak to hit the UK, a senior government adviser claimed

Officials ‘did not discuss’ the need for community testing because they believed a new strain of influenza would be the next outbreak to hit the UK, a senior government adviser claimed

‘The current problem is based upon the fact that we didn’t invest in preparedness before all this happened.

‘We always knew that when it came to a pandemic it was a case of when, not if. But there has been a focus on influenza preparedness. And for things like influenza mass testing is not important and it never figured as a potential strategy.’ 

He added that the focus at the time ‘was on pandemic influenza’ because ‘it happens on a much more regular basis.’

‘Testing can be extremely powerful and we now desperately need it at a population level to be able to understand what’s going on,’ he said.  

Critics this week labelled the UK’s testing efforts a ‘catastrophe’ and ‘dismal’ when compared to what is being done in Germany where 500,000 tests are being carried out every week.  

Pictured: The NHS coronavirus drive through testing facility at Chessington World of Adventure in Chessington

Pictured: The NHS coronavirus drive through testing facility at Chessington World of Adventure in Chessington

The UK is currently managing just under 10,000 tests a day with the government having previously said it wants to get to 25,000 by the middle of April

The UK is currently managing just under 10,000 tests a day with the government having previously said it wants to get to 25,000 by the middle of April

The UK is currently managing just under 10,000 tests a day with the government having previously said it wants to get to 25,000 by the middle of April. 

It comes as another 569 coronavirus deaths were declared in the UK today, meaning Britain’s death toll has quadrupled in six days with 2,921 confirmed victims of the deadly infection.

The rise makes today the worst day so far in the outbreak – which has crippled Britain since it began spreading on British soil in February. It is the third day in a row that a new one-day high in deaths has been recorded.

A further 4,244 people were diagnosed with the life-threatening infection in the past 24 hours, pushing the total number of positive tests to 33,718 – but officials are clueless about the true size of the outbreak.

The figures provide a glimmer of hope that the unprecedented lockdown may be working because it the number of new cases was down from 4,324 yesterday, while the daily death count jumped by just six.