A TAUNTON dad has hit out at the government after he said he had to give up on getting a coronavirus test because of how difficult it was.

Jacob Evergarden and his two children began displaying symptoms of covid-19 last weekend, but when he tried to book a coronavirus test he was told none were available near his home town.

Mr Evergarden doesn’t drive so was unable to access any of the testing centres located further afield, or the existing facility at the town’s racecourse.

He also said that he struggled to even get on the official testing website as it seemed to crash because of the number of people trying to access it.

The Department of Health and Social Care has said it is doing everything possible to ensure people can access tests as soon as possible.

Speaking to the LDRS Mr Evergarden said he began showing symptoms on Saturday (September 12) – but suspected something may be up the day before.

“I started to suspect that my family might be at risk on the Friday after my five-year-old daughter had returned  that evening from her first week back at school with a fever,” he added.

“Shortly after, both me and my three-year-old son also developed the same symptoms with a cough developing around Monday.”

Mr Evergarden tweeted on Sunday (September 13): “Good luck anyone trying to get a Covid testing kit in the Taunton area if you don’t drive”, adding he had been trying to secure such a test for three days.

He said he received no further information from the government, and often the official testing website wouldn’t work.

He said: “We constantly tried the website at all times. every 30 minutes or so.

“Sometimes I wouldn’t  be able to get past the first part of the website as they claimed It to be too busy – which for a website is insane to me.

“It’s not a call centre but a web page – if there’s too much traffic make it so the site can handle it, it’s not even a hard problem to fix”.

Mr Evergarden, who has a degree in computer game technologies, managed to get his daughter tested at her school on Monday (September 14) – but he was forced “give up on the idea of a test at this point” for both him and the rest of his immediate family.

He was also unable to access the testing centre at Taunton Racecourse.

He said: “I did not attempt to walk to the racecourse as I gathered I would have been turned away, as it stated you required an appointment.

“However, even if I had, I live by the Asda in Taunton, and while I would have been able to walk that distance, my three-year-old and partner would not.

“My partner has significantly smaller lungs than the average person and asthma, making a trip to the town centre hard enough for her. Plus, what would we do about looking after our five-year-old, who has quite bad symptoms, while we went to get tested?”

“Wearing your clown shoes into the House of Commons”

Mr Evergarden said he and his family had been “very much over-cautious” since they started to show symptoms, only venturing out for essential supplies.

But he said that a test shortage for anyone else in his position would have had “a disastrous knock-on effect” – and called on the government to set up its efforts.

He said: “At the end of the day, this test is provided by the government, and it falls on their shoulders to supply it when it is needed.

“If they are having issues with suppliers, then fix that issue. Casting blame only gets you so far in the eyes of reasonable people; for delusional little Englanders, it might be enough.

“When you use schemes like ‘eat out to help out’ and then look confused when infections start to spike up, you might as well be wearing your clown shoes into the House of Commons.”

Mr Evergarden said smaller ‘pop-up’ testing stations could be employed for people who cannot drive, rotating through a series of different locations every couple of days.

He added: “Nationally I would like to see more competence, and a little bit of acceptance that the government has screwed up several times.

“Just because you hit your target for one day, on the last day of a deadline you set, that should not be celebrated.

“There’s too much ‘focus on the positive’ from the government. A pandemic is not a time to be positively thinking, but instead a time for responsible actions that saves lives.”

The government’s response

The Department of Health and Social Care has not commented on the specifics of Mr Evergarden’s case, but said it was working hard to ensure everyone who needed to access a test could do so.

A spokesman said: “NHS Test and Trace is providing tests at an unprecedented scale (200,000 a day on average over the last week), with the vast majority of people getting tested within 6 miles of their home.

“There has been a spike in demand in recent weeks and the message is clear – only people with symptoms should be requesting a test.

“We’re doing everything possible to overcome this challenge – including by bringing in new labs that can process tens of thousands of tests a day, opening new test sites, and trialling new rapid tests that will give results on the spot.

“As we expand capacity further, we will continue to work around the clock to make sure that everyone who needs a test can get one.” 

Where can I get tested?

Somerset County Council tweeted on Tuesday afternoon (September 15) that mobile coronavirus testing units were available in the following locations:

Barnstaple

Bridport

Dorchester

Paulton

Taunton Racecourse

Tiverton

Trowbridge

Warminster

Weston-super-Mare

Tests can be booked by calling 119 or by visiting www.nhs.uk/coronavirus.