Public Health Isle of Wight are keen to reassure Islanders, saying there are no testing capacity issues on the Isle of Wight, despite the national booking system stating that slots are showing as ‘very few available’.
News OnTheWight got in touch with Public Health, via the council, to find out what the capacity of the test centre at Newclose Cricket Ground was, and the data on how many people have been tested there over the last seven weeks.
As you can see from the table below, demand for tests has gone up, but there’s still some spare capacity based on the number of tests being requested.
| Week commencing | Average weekly capacity | Total tests |
|---|---|---|
| 27th Sep | 2100 (7 days) | 1673 |
| 20th Sep | 2100 (7 days) | 1752 |
| 13th Sep | 2100 (7 days) | 868 |
| 6th Sep | 2100 (7 days) | 1040 |
| 30th Aug | 2100 (7 days) | 1134 |
| 23rd Aug | 1800 (6 days) | 1072 |
| 16th Aug | 1800 (6 days) | 1258 |
PH: No testing capacity issues
A spokesperson for Isle of Wight Public Health told News OnTheWight,
“Please be assured that there are no testing capacity issues at the Isle of Wight testing site at Newclose.
“Unfortunately the landing page on the national portal does not portray the correct picture as there are appointments available for booking.
“If anyone were to require a test, there are appointments available for today. This is something we have raised with the national team to change the language used in order to convey the correct message regarding testing capacity.”
