Sheffield mum finally manages to get Covid-19 test for son – and has this piece of advice for other parents

On Monday, The Star reported how Jo Muscroft had been constantly trying to book a test via the Government’s website for her 14-year-old who suddenly developed a cough.

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On Wednesday, Jo said she had finally managed to get a home test – and hopes to get the results back by Monday.

“It took a great deal of persistence, literally hours and hours on the website,” said the 47-year-old, of Beauchief.

“The Government website process itself is awful.

“Within a couple of weeks into lockdown the big supermarkets had brought in a queuing system for their online shoppers to allow for the increase in traffic and you’d be told how long you needed to wait to be next in the queue to book your shopping – but on the Government website you just have to keep filling out the form over and over and hitting refresh all day in the hope that you’ll be one of the lucky ones to be there at exactly the right moment when the tests are released.

“I’d urge other parents trying to get a test to be persistent.”

She added: “The home testing kit is not straightforward – wiping the swab on the tonsils of a 14-year-old without touching their teeth, tongue or cheeks is not an easy task."

Jo’s son and two other boys are not currently able to go to school – and she and her husband are also having to stay at home.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “I think most people looking at the record of this country in delivering tests across this nation will see that it actually compares extremely well with any other European country."

In the House of Commons on Tuesday, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said there had been a ‘sharp rise’ in the number of people seeking a test.

He said there were ‘operational challenges’ with testing which the Government was ‘working hard’ to fix – and added that it would take a ‘matter of weeks’ to resolve the problems.

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