Why the government is being accused of 'bending the rules' to meet its testing target | indy100 | indy100

What would the pandemic be without a good old-fashioned Tory numbers controversy?

Well, we’ll never have to know the answer to that question because Matt Hancock has found himself in the centre of a big row over allegedly reaching the government’s testing target of 100,000 a day by the end of April.

So what happened?

Hancock claimed he’d passed the goal at yesterday’s Downing Street press briefing, announcing 122,347 tests were provided in the 24 hours to 9am on 1 May.

WATCH: So many have played a part in helping exceed the national goal of 100,000 daily #coronavirus tests. Thank yo… https://t.co/5soH6vsXH6
— Matt Hancock (@Matt Hancock) 1588401048

But on closer inspection, it seemed like around 40,000 of these tests were simply mailed out to people, and hadn’t yet been returned.

Breakdown of yday's tests: 122,347 tests, of which 73,191 individual people tested * 39,753 in NHS, PHE and devol… https://t.co/ifxxsicn9L
— Dan Bloom (@Dan Bloom) 1588350621

This has led many to accuse the government of “fiddling the figures” or “bending the rules” to meet the target.

The Government should focus on making sure these tests are administered effectively rather than bending the rules t… https://t.co/NgPoh64Umx
— Justin Madders MP (@Justin Madders MP) 1588342214

Surely, the most accurate method would be simply counting the tests which were returned? And doesn’t this sudden change seem a bit coincidental the day before a testing deadline that the government was widely expected to miss? Also, even if this way of counting the tests is legitimate, it’s only been achieved for one day, once (“a day” is not “per day”...)

Questions, questions, questions...

Yes, it seems like from the makers of “50,000 more nurses” and “FactCheckUK” comes... “120,000 tests carried out”.

How surprising.

People on social media, including journalists from a variety of publications, were quick to point out the problem with the numbers.

Let’s now disaggregate this. The 122,000 total includes almost 40,000 tests posted to homes and patients in hospita… https://t.co/leiDBHWsyB
— Andrew Neil (@Andrew Neil) 1588354211

The original target was 100,000 people tested by end-April. That target has been missed, despite the headline figur… https://t.co/VpelLXQ5xk
— Andrew Neil (@Andrew Neil) 1588354212

Lies, Damned Lies and Matt Hancock's fiddled coronavirus test statistics: So it was 73,191 confirmed tests in 122,3… https://t.co/EWur8UOJFB
— Kevin Maguire (@Kevin Maguire) 1588400216

Did they reach the 100,000 target? It doesn't appear that 100,000 tests have been conducted and in the last 24 ho… https://t.co/AziCXLsXk6
— Lewis Goodall (@Lewis Goodall) 1588365951

122,300 home test kits being dispatched is not 122,300 people being tested and their results processed. Completely… https://t.co/6FtxaBW70w
— Owen Jones 🌹 (@Owen Jones 🌹) 1588350299

— (@)

Some wondered why the government bothered doing this and made the numbers “the story”, when 80,000 tests is still a lot of tests.

They shouldn’t have fiddled the numbers but it’s an impressive achievement nonetheless.
— James Oh Brien (@James Oh Brien) 1588354422

— (@)

Yes & all totally unnecessary. Nobody asked for that 100k-a-day target that Hancock set himself, just as nobody tol… https://t.co/jRq10kgnM3
— Piers Morgan (@Piers Morgan) 1588355607

Of course there were lots of jokes too…

— (@)

I'm going for a 6-mile run which Matt Hancock calls 11 miles https://t.co/6rr3pWLS9i
— Kevin Maguire (@Kevin Maguire) 1588403217

But others congratulated Hancock, including former Labour deputy leader Tom Watson, former Chancellor George Osborne and the director of the World Health Organisation.

Let’s imagine the howls our outcry and the calls for resignation if my friend @MattHancock hadn’t hit 100,000 tests… https://t.co/UwNaIYfr4U
— George Osborne (@George Osborne) 1588368741

Fair play. Great leadership. https://t.co/4zJgrSeF4j
— Tom Watson (@Tom Watson) 1588360796

“When things went wrong we didn’t ask who we could blame, we asked how we could fix it,” says @MattHancock on reaching testing milestone👏👏👏
— Lucy Allan MP (@Lucy Allan MP) 1588349785

I am glad to see the #UnitedKingdom 🇬🇧 increasing their testing capacity significantly. Testing is key to identify… https://t.co/9ymS7SvP75
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus) 1588361002

In response, Hancock has denied the process of counting the tests had been changed, saying it was always going to be the case that different types of tests had to be counted differently.

But judging by some of the reactions to his figures, this matter probably isn't going to go away...