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Dedicated buses should be provided by the NHS to help people who do not have cars get to coronavirus test sites, a Tory MP has said.
Alexander Stafford called on ministers to help people with Covid-19 symptoms stay away from public transport to stop them infecting other people.
The Rother Valley MP told HuffPost UK’s Commons People podcast it was the “duty” of vulnerable people and their families, NHS workers with symptoms and others to go and get tested.
But he said the government’s testing capacity, which stood at more than 77,000 as of Tuesday, was not being used fully, with just 52,429 tests carried out that day on 33,445 people.
Stafford suggested a “dedicated bus service” or “dedicated transport service” run by the local health authority should be made available.
Justice secretary Robert Buckland has admitted the government will probably fail to hit its target of testing 100,000 people per day for coronavirus by the end of April.
Stafford stressed the government could not force people to get tested “North Korea-style” but suggested ministers should encourage and make it easier for the right people to use up the capacity.
He said: “Let’s be honest, everyone is saying we want more tests, we need more tests and we do.
“But if you say to someone get in your car, drive to a site, wait for some time, have a swab put in you which isn’t that pleasant, suddenly a lot of people say - well maybe someone else can do it.”
He said those without cars have been put in a difficult situation as much of the government’s capacity is currently at more than 30 drive-in test sites.
Ministers are also rolling out mobile testing kits and home test kits.
But currently people with symptoms are struggling to access testing, Stafford said, noting that his nearest site was more than two hours away by public transport.
“Because people are told not to use public transport, understandably when they have got symptoms, asking them to get on public transport potentially with other people maybe going to work, with the symptoms, potentially infecting people to go to a testing site which may be an hour away by the bus - in my constituency it’s over two hours away by public transport - suddenly you’re having a huge knock-on effect,” he said.
“So it’s maybe about finding a better service to get people to the sites.
“I don’t know whether there’s a dedicated bus service or dedicated transport service, run by the local health authority, to actually get those people so they don’t have to go on public transport, so they don’t have to use their car if they don’t have it, and actually take them to the testing site.
“Like all these things, it’s all very well having the sites and the tests, you have got to look at a whole holistic approach of how to encourage people to be there and make it easier and safer for them to do so.”