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The government says there is high demand for coronavirus tests
People are waiting longer for coronavirus test results from England’s community testing centres, figures show.
Only 28% of tests carried out in these venues came back in 24 hours in the week up to 16 September.
That is down from one in three last week, and two in three the week before, NHS Test and Trace said.
It comes as the government is struggling to increase lab capacity to process tests.
Access to community testing has had to be rationed because labs are struggling to keep up with demand.
The opening of a planned new “mega” lab in Newport has been delayed.
There are three types of community testing centres – drive-thrus, walk-in centres and mobile units that are deployed to hotspot areas.
- Average turnaround times for regional drive-thru centres rose from 27 hours the week before to 30
- Mobile units saw average times of 31 hours up from 26
- Performance for local walk-in centres improved slightly from 35 to 34 hours
Turnaround times for kits posted out to care homes and people’s private homes improved a little.
Testing carried out in hospitals is processed by their own labs, and nine in 10 test results are provided in 24 hours.