Rejected petition Protect SARS-CoV-2 NHS Testing Officers

Rejected on 26 May 2020

1) Provide face shields for the testing officers
2) Minimise the duration of their exposure time by doing the identification via phone and handling or e-mailing the additional information

Last week I was tested for COVID-19 in the local testing centre. My observations :
-The testing officer's PPE consisted of a surgical mask, an apron and gloves. No face shield.
- For 5 minutes they asked questions being less than a meter from me through my car's open window- name, date of birth, address etc.
- After taking the sample I have been told how long until I get the results and when I can get back to work.
The simple measures above can shorten their exposure and minimise the risk.

Why was this petition rejected?

It’s about something that the UK Government or Parliament is not directly responsible for.

Decisions about the conduct of coronavirus tests are an operational matter for the NHS, not the Government or House of Commons.

We have published the following petitions, which you might like to sign:

Provide all workers dealing with the public PPE to be protected from COVID-19: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/307866

Protect essential workers from contracting and spreading Covid-19: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/306387

Supply PPE to all Health and Social Care workers including community carers: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/314229

Provide adequate PPE equipment for medical professionals working with COVID-19: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/304243

You can find out more about coronavirus and how you can protect yourself and others here:

www.gov.uk/coronavirus
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

The Government has also created an online service to help you out what you can do if you’re struggling because of coronavirus: https://www.gov.uk/find-coronavirus-support

You can read NHS tips to help if you are worried about coronavirus here: https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/coronavirus-covid-19-anxiety-tips

You can read impartial analysis of the Government response to coronavirus and policy developments here: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/coronavirus/

You may also be interested to know that because of the large number of petitions that have been started in relation to coronavirus, the Petitions Committee has been questioning the Government about its response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Find out more: https://committees.parliament.uk/work/192/the-governments-response-to-coronavirus/

We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.