Mass testing - we need trade union oversight and full pay for all

NHS protest, photo Socialist Party (Click to enlarge)

Katrine Williams, Socialist Party national committee

The Tory government is ploughing enormous resources into mass testing, promising £100 billion for 'Operation Moonshot', equivalent to 70% of the usual annual NHS resource budget. The majority of funding is being funnelled into private companies carrying out the tests.

Mass testing, sufficiently accurate and used effectively, could be an important tool in the response to the pandemic. But how effective are the tests, and how does mass testing fit with the rest of the government's Covid strategy?

Having been trialled in Liverpool, the government's version of mass testing is being rolled out to further communities, including the possibility of workplace testing. So far, there has not been a proper evaluation of the effectiveness of the programme in Liverpool made public.

The lateral flow test used as part of the scheme needs a swab that has been pushed up both nostrils from each individual. In the main, swabbing is done by the individuals themselves. Meanwhile, the testing process is being carried out by what the government call "experienced" staff, but who, in reality, have had just an hour's training by video.

Despite assertions about the accuracy of the test, the accuracy of results fall within a very wide range. In Liverpool, tests captured just 58% of those with Covid-19. Accuracy of testing is much higher when the samples are obtained, and the tests are done, by clinical experts. Accuracy rises to 79% when done by laboratory scientists.

The government and bosses want to use mass testing as a means to get workers back to work as soon as possible, cutting self-isolation times, and maintaining the fiction that workplaces are 'Covid secure'.

There is a danger that mass testing can give the illusion of safety and false reassurance to those who test negative. All safety measures including social distancing, face coverings, good ventilation and good hygiene continue to be vital for safety, and are often absent from workplaces.

Mass testing in Liverpool had a varying degree of take up. The lowest take up was in the poorest communities, where workers cannot afford to self-isolate because of the impact on their pay. Self-isolation is an effective way to stop the spread and must not be curtailed. All workers, including those on limited-hours contracts, must receive full pay and face no detriment from annual leave or sickness absence recording.

More accurate testing, carried out by trained professionals, as part of a publicly owned system, and under the democratic control of workers and the trade unions, could play a vital role in tackling the pandemic. But it also needs to be combined with full pay for those isolating, and resources provided to ensure all safety measures are carried out in our workplaces and communities.

The Socialist Party demands:

Full funding to local authorities and NHS to deliver test, track, trace and protect
Improve the testing of symptomatic people with full resourcing to public services so that individuals can get results promptly
Testing in the workplace should focus on stopping the spread of Covid-19 by identifying those that need to self-isolate. Any testing must be carried out by clinical experts, with the oversight of workplace trade unions
Mass testing to be part of the public sector. No more lining the pockets of big business
Community screening of asymptomatic people should be properly piloted and systematically evaluated under trade union supervision
For trade union struggle to demand what is needed to tackle Covid-19. For jobs, full pay, and health and safety at work

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Finance appeal

The coronavirus crisis has laid bare the class character of society in numerous ways. It is making clear to many that it is the working class that keeps society running, not the CEOs of major corporations.

The results of austerity have been graphically demonstrated as public services strain to cope with the crisis.

The government has now ripped up its 'austerity' mantra and turned to policies that not long ago were denounced as socialist. But after the corona crisis, it will try to make the working class pay for it, by trying to claw back what has been given.

The Socialist Party's material is more vital than ever, so we can continue to report from workers who are fighting for better health and safety measures, against layoffs, for adequate staffing levels, etc.
When the health crisis subsides, we must be ready for the stormy events ahead and the need to arm workers' movements with a socialist programme - one which puts the health and needs of humanity before the profits of a few.