Covid: Speed of Lighthouse lab test results falls again

23 September 2020

The speed at which coronavirus home tests from Wales have been processed has declined again.

Only 4.4% of the tests in the latest week were processed by the privately run Lighthouse labs within a day.

This was down from more than 10% two weeks ago. Nearly two-thirds of tests took three days to be processed.

Lighthouse labs are a UK-wide network of specialist coronavirus laboratories and more than 70% of Welsh tests are processed in them.

The rise in demand for tests and lab capacity has been blamed for the delay.

Figures show more than 6,300 home tests were processed in the week up beginning 14 September, more than double the number in previous weeks.

For the past two weeks figures have not been available to see how fast home tests are being turned around.

These have now been published - although are still subject to revision - and show 4.4% of home tests were processed in a day.

In the previous week, only 3.7% of tests were turned around in a day.

The report, produced with NHS Wales and Public Health Wales figures, also said:

62% of tests requiring a rapid turnaround - including at community sites and hospitals - were completed within one calendar day in the most recent week
55% of tests taken at community units were processed in the Lighthouse labs in one day, down from 87% in the previous week
65% of community and mass testing tests by NHS Wales labs were authorised in one day, fewer than the week before
61,390 tests were authorised by both NHS Wales and Lighthouse labs in the week beginning 14 September
More than 2,100 care home residents were tested in the latest week and 12 were positive for Covid-19

The figures measure from the time a sample is recorded as being collected to the time the test result is authorised by the lab.

They do not indicate how long it takes for people to get their results back.

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