Ocado buys 100,000 coronavirus test kits for staff

Ocado has bought 100,000 coronavirus test kits to ensure it can "safely provide a vital service" to as many of its customers as possible.

The online supermarket reportedly spent £1.5m on the kits and has received 40,000 so far.

Ocado said it would make the kits available to the government if required.

"We have purchased Covid-19 testing kits to ensure that frontline colleagues can regularly access tests, and continue to safely provide a vital service to as many customers as possible," said a spokeswoman from the Ocado Group.

The news has caused some to question why the Government is yet to provide all NHS staff with tests for Covid-19.

Around 2,000 of the 1.2 million NHS staff have been tested for coronavirus so far - working out to just one in around 600.

The Government said on Wednesday that it hopes to have capacity to test 25,000 people each day for coronavirus by mid-April. In contrast, Germany is already testing around 70,000 a day.

Harrow West MP, Gareth Thomas, called on the government to explain why NHS staff weren't being routinely tested.

"If Ocado can buy 100,000 Covid-19 test kits to ensure 'safety for all' for its staff, why can't Michael Gove and Matt Hancock do the same for NHS staff?" he asked on Twitter.

Writer Marcus Chown also took to Twitter to ask why NHS employees weren't being prioritised.

Ocado, like other retailers including Tesco and Sainsbury's, have been overwhelmed with a demand for slots after the government ordered people to stay at home to avoid spreading the coronavirus further.

Ocado said it was doing everything possible to protect the health, safety and welfare of its colleagues around the world and had implemented a number of measures in line with official advice to limit contact and maintain high standard of hygiene.

"We continue to recruit across our UK businesses to maximise the ability of Ocado.com and Morrisons.com to deliver to customers," said the Ocado spokeswoman.

"In order to bring more resources to our operations, we are hiring another 3,000 people to join our Logistics operations, as well as hundreds more across different business areas.

"Employees working on the frontline of the food delivery operation, including drivers, personal shoppers, LGV drivers engineering operations, Contact Centre and Spoke and Customer Fulfilment Centre site managers, will receive a 10 per cent bonus on basic pay on all hours attended and worked from March 23, and while the crisis continues."