A YORK family said they drove all the way to Halifax so their daughter could get a coronavirus test after being offered a space, only to be turned away by the centre when they arrived.

The girl's mum, who does not want to be named, said she managed to book a test through the gov.uk website yesterday (Saturday).

She explained: "After receiving the 'no sites' message many times, we were 'lucky' and were offered a space in Halifax for our nine-year-old daughter. 

"We decided to take it, despite the drive of more than an hour, because it was becoming obvious to us how difficult it is to get tested."

However, when the family arrived, the test centre allegedly had no record of their booking and they would not test their daughter, her mum said.

"One of the testers we spoke to told us that after making the online booking, we should have received an email with a QR code, which we didn't," she said. "They told us that to be tested at any site you need a QR code.

"There were no other people being tested at the centre, just lots of 'testers' sitting around.

"They were not surprised this had happened to us - one of the testers told me they had turned away over 100 people the previous day and it was happening to many. 

"They were taking a note of the numbers of people they were having to turn away to feed back."

The mum said having travelled 47 miles for over an hour with a sick child, they had to turn around and go home.

"It was infuriating," she added.

It comes after several local residents contacted The Press on Friday and Saturday to say they had been unable to book a coronavirus test or order a home testing kit through the gov.uk website after trying for hours. Read more here:

https://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/18714872.york-mum-tells-difficulties-booking-coronavirus-test-son/

https://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/18716759.york-resident-told-no-sites-trying-book-coronavirus-test/

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care responded to these two stories by saying: “NHS Test and Trace is working and our capacity is the highest it has ever been but we are seeing a significant demand for tests including from people who do not have symptoms and are not otherwise eligible.

“New booking slots and home testing kits are made available daily for those who need them and we are targeting testing capacity at the areas that need it most, including those where there is an outbreak, and prioritising at-risk groups.

“Our laboratories are processing more than a million tests a week and we recently announced new facilities and technology to process results even faster. If you do not have symptoms and are not eligible to get a test you can continue to protect yourself if you wash your hands, wear a face covering and follow social distancing rules.”

A coronavirus testing facility opened at Poppleton Park&Ride in York in April.

Meanwhile, two walk-in coronavirus testing centres could open in York - but not until the end of October at the earliest. Click here for the full story.