MORE than £100,000 could be ploughed into getting more Covid-19 tests for people in Wokingham.

Wokingham Borough Council has pledged to spend £120,000 on providing 1,000 more tests as the NHS Test and Trace service struggles to meet demand nationally.

The authority will be enlisting the help of a private company to provide tests for key workers in the area.

The swab tests will produce results within 48 hours.

Cllr Charles Margetts, executive member for health, said: “What we’re planning to do is procure a number of tests to cover us against any future outbreaks until there is better central government provision.

“We’re going to try and procure one batch first with an option for a second batch. The tests will be open to any key workers who need them.

“Initially, we’re looking at a total order of about 1,000 tests – 500 in the first batch and 500 in the second.

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“We’re buying them from a commercial company which supplies football clubs and it is starting to supply the NHS.

“We’ve had a commercial relationship with them for 45 years, so we know they are reliable.”

He added: “How is it Wokingham Borough Council can procure testing from October 5 when central government can’t?

“When we first started exploring this idea, we never though it would be possible to do it this quickly.”

The council’s Executive is expected to sign off plans to spend up to £120,000 of taxpayers’ money on the tests at a meeting on September 24.

Some people in Wokingham have been denied a test in recent weeks because the stretched NHS Test and Trace service is prioritising areas of concern, that have higher numbers of confirmed cases.

A number of private companies are involved in the NHS Test and Trace service, including Serco, who employ the contract tracers, and American firm Sitel, which operates the call centre.

During the pandemic, 680 people have tested positive for the virus in Wokingham and it has claimed 151 lives.

There have been 27 outbreaks in 52 Wokingham cares homes so far and they have lost 76 residents to the virus.

At a full council meeting on September 17, Cllr Margetts said: “I can reassure everybody that as things stand today our care homes are safe and have enough testing.

“The situation there is being continually monitored.”

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He added: “In May, when the Royal Berkshire Hospital were discharging patients with Covid into our care homes without tests, we broke central government advice and refused discharges to keep our community safe, until testing could be put into place.”

Government guidance did not require hospitals to test discharged patients for the virus until April 15, but many did.

A report written by NHS Providers states: “Trusts were already testing patients and care home residents with symptoms wherever testing capacity allowed.

“But this capacity was not reliably and consistently available across the country before mid-April.”

At Thursday’s meeting, Cllr Margetts revealed that test and trace in Wokingham is currently at around 90 per cent.

That means 90 per cent of the people who come in close contact with those who test positive for Covid-19 are contacted and alerted.

But he also urged everyone to download the ‘NHS Covid-19 App’, which has been set up to support the test and trace scheme, when it goes live on September 24.

“I’d encourage all members (councillors), residents and local businesses to adopt it,” he said.

“It’s a key part of how we fight Covid-19.”