New ‘mega labs’ to open in early 2021, doubling U.K. government’s COVID testing capacity – By Lina Saigol (Marketwatch) / Nov 16 2020
As well as COVID, the new labs will also be able to check for critical illnesses including cancer, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases
Two new “mega-labs” will open in early 2021 in the U.K., in an attempt to double testing capacity in the U.K., the government said.
The new facilities, one in Leamington Spa in the Midlands in England and another in an unidentified site in Scotland, will employ up to 4,000 people and increase the number of standard polymerase chain reaction tests by 600,000 a day when operating at full capacity.
Current testing capacity is at around 519,000, according to the latest data. However, just 379,955 tests were actually processed.
As well as processing COVID-19 tests, these new diagnostic facilities will be used for critical illness including cancer, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, according to the Department and Health Social Care.
