Using data from our last study, Bug Watch, we predicted that if 80% of people with coughs and fevers request a Covid-19 test in the coming months, the UK’s current testing capacity could be exceeded for five months.
Senior author and one of Virus Watch’s Chief Investigators, Dr Robert Aldridge (UCL Institute of Health Informatics), said: “Our results show that a high incidence of cough and fever between October 2020 and February 2021 will place a significant strain on UK testing capacity.
“If capacity is exceeded to the extent predicted in our results, a significant proportion of COVID-19 positive cases are likely to remain untested and this will impact on our ability to provide public health advice in a timely manner to cases and their contacts in order to stop the spread of disease.”
You can read this BBC news item about our study, and the published analysis can be found online here.