Testing facility costs and process

1) What is the total cost per day for the Devon County Council Covid testing facility including 4 full-staff and a ‘security guard’?

Based on costs to date for the Community Testing Programme from the 1st April 2021 to 30th September 2021 Devon County Council is averaging spend of approximately £700 per day per mobile testing van. There are 5 mobile testing vans some of which work with the NHS on delivering outreach covid-19 vaccinations. All costs are agreed and funded in full by the Department of Health and Social Care.

2) Can you get a false positive on a lateral flow test?

Yes. No test is 100% accurate.  However, online data is available –new analysis which shows specificity of at least 99.9%.  This means that the likelihood of a false positive is less than 0.01% or fewer than one false positive in every 1,000 lateral flow tests carried out.

3) What is the exact number of amplification cycles used in the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) testing?

This is not information that Devon County Council hold and would refer such questions to the UK Health Security Agency who run the test and trace programme and lead the PCR testing.

4) Who designed and paid for the disgusting smiley faced ‘Go with the flow’ propaganda used on the banners around the testing facility?

The designs on the banners were commissioned by Devon County Council from a marketing agency. The work was paid by Devon County Council using funding from the Government’s COVID-19 Control Outbreak Management Fund.

5) Do you have an isolated and purified sample of the Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS CoV 2) virus?

No, Devon County Council does not have an isolated and purified sample of the Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS CoV 2) virus