London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Oct 06, 2025

UK To Expand COVID-19 Tests To School Students As Cases Rise In London

UK To Expand COVID-19 Tests To School Students As Cases Rise In London

UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said that more details of the so-called "surge testing" programme will be set out on Friday after the fastest rise in infections was noted among secondary school age children.
The UK government is expanding its COVID-19 Test and Trace plan to cover all secondary school students aged between 11 and 18 in and around London, as the city registered a spike in coronavirus infections in recent days.

UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said that more details of the so-called "surge testing" programme will be set out on Friday after the fastest rise in infections was noted among secondary school age children.

This group will now be prioritised for testing by the National Health Service (NHS) in the seven worst affected boroughs of London, in parts of Essex that border London, and parts of Kent.

"Looking into the detail, the testing results and surveys show us that by far the fastest rise is among secondary school age children, 11 to 18 year olds, while the rate among adults in London is broadly flat," he said, during a 10 Downing Street briefing in London on Thursday evening.

"But we know from experience that a sharp rise in cases in younger people can lead to a rise amongst more vulnerable age groups later. We've seen that happen before. So we need to do everything we can to stop the spread among school-age children in London right now," he said.

The UK government is scheduled to review the current tiered system of coronavirus lockdown restrictions next Wednesday, when it will decide whether London and its suburbs need to be moved from the current high alert level of Tier 2 to the very high alert level of Tier 3.

The latter would mean hospitality venues only serving takeaway meals and almost any mixing between households being banned.

"We must not wait until the review which will take place on the 16 December. We need to take targeted action immediately," said Mr Hancock.

"Having spoken to the leaders of London's councils, and to the mayor [Sadiq Khan], we have decided to put in place an immediate plan for testing all secondary school aged children in the seven worst affected boroughs of London, in parts of Essex that border London, and parts of Kent," he said.

The minister said that schools will be kept open to not disrupt classes too much but officials will be working with schools and local authorities to encourage secondary school children and their families to get tested over the coming days through mobile testing units.

"I want to urge all those involved to step forward for testing. It is important that 11 to 18 year-olds get tested in these boroughs irrespective of whether they have symptoms – this is a really important point, because we know that you can have COVID – and you can still pass it on – even without symptoms," added Mr Hancock.

The NHS Test and Trace programme has been conducting lateral flow rapid result tests in targeted regions and sectors, such as universities. The move to expand the programme comes at the end of a week which marked the first rollout of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine against COVID-19.

Hancock welcomed the "help on the horizon" offered by the vaccine but urged people to continue to follow lockdown rules and not "blow it now" because the fall in the number of cases has "flattened off", even as numbers begin to rise in and around London.

The warning comes as the UK recorded another 516 deaths from the deadly virus, taking the country's number of deaths past 63,000.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
×