Dramatic increase in Coronavirus private Home testing kits in the UK amid Testing Crisis

As much of the UK faces delays getting tested for Coronavirus, private healthcare provider Pall Mall Medical have seen a whopping 184% increase in their private PCR COVID-19 home testing kits over the last month. We spoke to the team at Pall Mall Medical to understand why there’s been such a huge increase in private test sales and what they’re doing to raise awareness about Coronavirus.

Private PCR COVID-19 Home Detection Tests

The cooler, autumnal months of September and October have seen a rise in COVID related symptoms such as fevers and coughs which has meant much of the UK population have been told to isolate until they can obtain a negative COVID test result. This has resulted in the drive-through testing centres being inundated with people who are desperate to return to work or get their kids back into childcare and the number of available testing spots have dropped dramatically, with hundreds being turned away from test centres on a daily basis.

The result? People are turning to private home testing kits.

At Pall Mall Medical, a family-run private healthcare provider based in the North West of the UK, they have seen a massive uplift in kits sold over their e-commerce platform. Interestingly, many of the home detection tests are being delivered all over the UK, and not just in the North.

Key statistics

Pall Mall Medical has seen month-on-month increases in tests sold online. For example, comparing July to August, there has been a 42% increase in home detection tests sold, with August being the biggest month yet for sales. However, delving deeper, they’ve seen a whopping 2381% increase in kits sold from June to mid-September!

After doing a little bit of research, Pall Mall discovered that the reasons many people are turning to private testing are:

• Travelling abroad for work/pleasure
• Relocating for University
• Urgency of result

Pall Mall Medical COVID-19 Quiz

Advocated by GMB Presenter, Dr Hillary Jones, Pall Mall have created a COVID-19 quiz so you can put your Coronavirus knowledge to the test. With many people still believing this to be a ‘scam-demic’, understanding all about the virus, can help the world’s population to become more aware of the steps we can do to prevent the spread.

We spoke to Dr Chun Tang, a GP from Pall Mall Medical:

“As coronavirus continues to spread throughout the globe, and the potential of a second lockdown looms in the UK, it’s more important than ever that we educate ourselves about the disease. This includes its symptoms, complications and how it’s transmitted so that we can better protect ourselves and others from the spread.”

With much of the UK waiting days on end for results and many being told they have to travel upwards of 100 miles to their nearest available test centre, we can only assume the number of private test kits being sold will continue to rise as we approach the winter months.

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