Dorset residents told to travel to the Isle of Wight for Coronavirus test
It's due to more testing in areas where there's higher demand.
Last updated 4th Sep 2020
Residents in Dorset are being sent to the Isle of Wight to be tested for COVID-19.
Public Health Dorset say they are aware of issues with booking tests that are resulting in people being told to travel to Newport.
Emily Blake from East Chaldon said she now has to self-isolate for 14 days because she could not get a home testing kit and was not able to travel to the Isle of Wight.
She told Greatest Hits Radio the website could not verify her identity so it told her she would have to go to a testing site:
"I'd have had to take the children as well, and that would be an expense.
"If you're trying to book a test and you're worried, the last thing you want to do is be out there so what we've had to do is just self-isolate for the 14 days."
Emily says she will not be able to send her children to school on Monday without knowing whether they are positive or negative for the virus.
According to Public Health Dorset it's a national issue caused by added pressure due to more testing going on at the moment.
A spokesperson for Public Health Dorset said:
"We are aware that some residents are experiencing issues when trying to book COVID-19 tests in their local area.
"As more capacity is being added over the coming weeks, the system is changing and is currently very busy.
"We would advise anyone who can’t find a convenient location or time when trying to book a test, to try again in a few hours and to continue to self-isolate at home until they can get tested."
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said:
“NHS Test and Trace is working – we are working to increase national testing capacity and hundreds of thousands of people are being tested every day.
“There is a high demand for tests and our laboratories continue to turn test results around as quickly as possible. To make sure we stay in control of this virus we are targeting our testing capacity at the areas that need it most, including those where there is an outbreak, as well as prioritising at-risk groups.
“We are expanding testing capacity to 500,000 tests a day by the end of October – as well as bringing in new technology to process tests even faster.”