Targeted mass testing in Sheffield could allow care home visits, health boss says

Susan Hird, consultant in Public Health at Sheffield City Council said frontline staff could be among those regularly tested asymptomatically, as well as relatives of care home residents, instead of the population at large.

She said: “The question is how do you make use of these tests because they can do some good but they can also do some harm – it doesn’t give a perfect result.

"We have to think carefully about how we use them but they are a useful progression.”

Current scientific data shows the tests could only be 80 per cent accurate, Ms Hird said.

She added: “When you start doing mass testing, because you are testing lots more people there’s more potential to find lots more false positives or negatives.

"You can see how that gives us problems if that person then goes and visits someone elderly or goes to work. We need to think about how we can use them so we minimise the potential harm that can happen when you test lots of people.”

The new lateral flow test, which is widely available, can produce a result within just 30 minutes. However, care home visitors may need to be tested more than once to reduce the risk of them unintentionally spreading the virus because of a false negative.

Ms Hird said: “What I’m not clear on at the moment is what time period you need to have between these tests.

"Probably what we would say is can you test someone, test them again two or three days later then yes that’s OK but you might still want them to have full PPE in the care homes as an extra precaution. There’s lots to think through.”

Mass testing is already being introduced in 67 areas of England.

On the delay of introducing it in Sheffield, Ms Hird said: “We’ve been clear and we’ve taken a decision across South Yorkshire that we’re interested in this test but we would like to see how things go in Liverpool and other areas, then get cracking.”

Ms Hird expects some results from Liverpool’s pilot next week, which will inform the next steps of Sheffield’s health bosses.