Unemployed woman who lied she was a key worker to get a covid test is unrepentant as she’s ‘protecting her family’
AN unemployed woman who claimed she was a key worker to get a coronavirus test said she lied to keep her “family safe”.
The woman, who stayed anonymous, said she did not feel guilty as the government fights its spiralling test crisis.
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During an interview with the BBC, she said: “I put in I was unemployed. As soon as you clicked it there was no site available – as soon as I tried to change the unemployed bit to a key worker that’s how I got this.”
Asked if she felt guilty, she said: “No. I’m keeping my family safe and keeping everyone else safe. I think there should be a lot more tests or we’re all going to get it.”
It comes as the government fights a lab shambles with reportedly no covid-19 tests available in England’s top 10 hotspots at one point last week.
I’m keeping my family safe and keeping everyone else safe. I think there should be a lot more tests or we’re all going to get it.
Ministers are now drawing up plans to restrict “frivolous demands” by those hoping to get tested without symptoms.
More than 200,000 tests are currently being carried out each day, but demand is much higher.
Labs are understood to be struggling to process all the samples being sent to them, forcing test centres to cut back on appointments.
And it means hundreds of people with Covid symptoms are waiting more than five days for a result.
TEST SHAMBLES
On Tuesday, swabs were reportedly not available in Bolton, Greater Manchester, which is fighting the largest outbreak of coronavirus in England with 122 cases for every 100,000 people.
Salford, Bradford, Blackburn and Darwen, Oldham, Preston, Pendle, Rochdale, Tameside and Manchester were also off limits, according to LBC.
Children, the least at risk from the deadly bug, also face being turned away from testing centres due to the national shortage.
Matt Hancock has warned that tests would be prioritised for people with acute clinical needs and those in social care.
Sites in Southend, Bury and Birmingham were overwhelmed with families desperately trying to get tests to allow them to get back to work or school
A backlog of 240,000 swabs has now built up, which will not be cleared until autumn or beyond — when millions of people will be at risk of cold and flu symptoms similar to coronavirus.
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As a result, Health Secretary Mr Hancock has been forced to restrict testing to hospital patients, care home residents and key workers, saying: “I don’t shirk from decisions about prioritisation.
“They are not always comfortable, but they are important.
“We’ll set out an updated prioritisation and I do not rule out further steps to make sure our tests are used according to those priorities.”
