Calls have been made to introduce mass coronavirus testing in Thanet as the government finalises plans for a potential rollout in the county.

The east Kent district is said to be at "tipping point" with rising hospitals admissions and several schools affected by Covid.

Earlier this month, Liverpool took part in a city-wide trial for Covid testing for its almost 500,000 residents. The military was brought in to support the effort in the north west.

Liverpool recorded 292 weekly cases per 100,000 people from November 6 to November 12, while 481 have been reported over the same period in Thanet. The rate of infection in the hotspot has more than doubled in the last two weeks.

Hospital admissions have been rising across the county, with more than 100 intensive beds made available for patients in Kent hospitals and a "close eye" being kept on the situation by local public health chiefs last week.

Several Kent schools have also decided to temporarily shut, including Ursuline College in Westgate, which has more than 700 pupils and put a full closure in place until December 1.

Margate county councillor Barry Lewis (Lab) said: "I think Thanet is at a tipping point, given that most of the 49 schools in the district have been affected and Ursuline College has closed for two weeks."

Cllr Lewis, who is also a Kent County Council (KCC) public health committee member, added: "Thanet is in a precarious position and we need help from the government immediately or we are looking at potential disaster."

Thanet council, which represents more than 140,000 people, has said it would "support" the move. A spokesman said: "The number of cases in our district has risen sharply and we all need to take action to respond as a community to protect Thanet."

KCC's public health director Andrew Scott-Clark said Maidstone County Hall is in the process of "finalising" plans with the Department of Health and Social Care for mass coronavirus testing in the county.

No specific locations have been revealed as another outlier, Swale, still faces the highest levels of infection rates in the county and one of the highest in the country at 531 weekly cases per 100,000, from November 6 to November 12.

If approved, the 'lateral flow' test will check if people have Covid and gives results in less than an hour.

Mr Scott-Clark, who also says a county-wide track and trace system could be ready by the end of November, added: "We are in the process of finalising our plans and liaising with the Department of Health and Social Care to request supplies of lateral flow devices (rapid testing).

"Mass asymptomatic testing is a significant undertaking that requires planning.

"Whilst it is an important part of managing the pandemic, it is not the solution and any testing needs to be alongside all the other public health measures such as social distancing, wearing masks and washing hands.

"The main thing people can do is to follow the national restrictions and self-isolate if they have symptoms or have been advised to self-isolate."

The Department for Health and Social Care has not ruled out the idea but did not want to provide an official response.

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