well, we thought we d come to the local pharmacy to see if they have any lateral flow test, but you don t need to go in to see that they are out of stock. so let s try this one. staff suggested we go down the road to another pharmacy. well, i got lucky. the pharmacist here does have a box of tests. he says, in fact, he gets a delivery every day, but as soon as people find out that he s got them, they can run out in half an hour just because of the sheer size of the demand for them. eve burke, a teacher in burcher, has covid along with her husband and two children. she s hoping to get back to work next tuesday, but can t find any lateral flow tests. i ve been trying since yesterday, going onto the government website and refreshing hourly to get lfts sent to our home, because we can t go to a place to pick them up, and i ve been messaging friends, asking if anybody has any spare that they can drop off, but the issue is everybody is in the same position
ou will for new year s eve. do you know if you will get for new year s eve. do you know if you will get a for new year s eve. do you know if you will get a big for new year s eve. do you know if you will get a big new for new year s eve. do you know if you will get a big new set - for new year s eve. do you know if you will get a big new set of- you will get a big new set of supplies tomorrow?- you will get a big new set of supplies tomorrow? you will get a big new set of su lies tomorrow? ~ ., ., supplies tomorrow? again, we don t. we checked supplies tomorrow? again, we don t. we checked the supplies tomorrow? again, we don t. we checked the wholesalers, - supplies tomorrow? again, we don t. we checked the wholesalers, there i we checked the wholesalers, there seems to be some stock, but i m sure they will tell you that it goes out as quickly as it comes in. we are hearing that it could be 4000 or 5000 boxes going into warehouses to be just repeated tomorrow to pharmacie
deal with staff shortages caused by workers isolating due to covid. that number doubled in london in the week before christmas. i do understand the argument, but as i say, we believe it is the right thing to do at present, to stick with the self isolation period as it currently is, so that is seven days, and as i say, we ve onlyjust made the change to bring it down to ten, so we want to make sure that that is working as we would expect it to be. but that brings us back to lateral flow tests. for the system to work, there has to be enough of them to go around. labour says the government needs to get a grip and provide enough tests. catherine burns, bbc news. earlier i spoke with the british conservative mp sir roger gale who told me about the situation with covid tests in his consituency. there is a shortage of lateral flow tests. there there is a shortage of lateral flow tests. there is there is a shortage of lateral flow tests. there is a there is a shortage of lateral flow tests. the
but there is a warning supply is not keeping up with that demand. the association of independent multiple pharmacies is calling this a huge problem. they have not had any here since christmas eve. it is notjust our pharmacy that is out of stock. it s many, many more pharmacies. some customers are very understanding with it, but some are getting very angry about it as well, saying we have been told we need to test every day, so how are the tests not available? good morning, do you have any lateral flow tests? no, i m afraid we are i completely out of stock. but what i would suggest is try to order them to your house. i you can try to do that, order them online, but you might be told there are no more delivery slots available. i m very disappointed, because i want to go out on new year s eve with my family and obviously i d rather be tested to know where i stand, rather than to go out without knowing where we stand. the uk health security agency says it is supplying millions of lateral
situation where people can cancel at the last minute. the last minute. that s right. althou~h the last minute. that s right. although we the last minute. that s right. although we are the last minute. that s right. although we are confirming i the last minute. that s right. i although we are confirming with people although we are confirming with people and asking people to confirm the numbers, people are doing lateral the numbers, people are doing lateral flow tests at the last minute lateral flow tests at the last minute and have no choice but to cancel minute and have no choice but to cancel and minute and have no choice but to cancel and we have our sympathies. we also cancel and we have our sympathies. we also have people who have booked a bi- we also have people who have booked a big party we also have people who have booked a big party and now we have to be the police a big party and now we have to be the police and say how many households are you because it s