THREE new mobile testing centres and 11 new walk-in facilities for people with coronavirus symptoms to get tested for the disease are opening in Scotland.
The First Minister made the announcement yesterday after a “major spike in demand” for testing caused problems for people trying to book tests.
Nicola Sturgeon said that “contingency plans are already being activated” in order to increase Scotland’s test capacity, including three mobile testing units being deployed to Glasgow and the central belt.
One of the new mobile testing units opened yesterday afternoon, while the other two will be deployed later this week, increasing capacity by between 1200 and 1500 tests.
The First Minister said 11 walk-in testing centres will be set up, the first of which will be in the Victory Memorial Hall in St Andrews, Fife. The centres will boost capacity by more than 3000 tests daily, she added.
The move follows some people from Scotland appearing to have been wrongly directed to testing centres in England in recent days.
READ MORE: Coronavirus test booking problems send Scots to Northern Ireland
Sturgeon suggested that a UK-wide surge in people attempting to get tested for Covid-19 was responsible for the “technical issues”.
Speaking at the daily coronavirus briefing yesterday, she said: “Over the weekend, there was a major spike in demand for testing – not just in Scotland, but we think across the UK.
“That led to some constraints on the booking portal throughout the day yesterday and that, in turn, resulted in a surge of calls to our Covid-19 helpline.
“I know this will have been frustrating for people trying to book a test, so I want to thank everyone for bearing with us as we’ve worked to address these issues.”
She also gave an update on the daily statistics, including a rise of 44 people testing positive, taking the total to 19,921. Of the new daily cases, provisional figures indicate seven are in Tayside, where there is an outbreak at the 2 Sisters food processing factory in Coupar Angus.
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