Delays in getting a coronavirus test meant one little girl from Sutton had to spend a week off school when she just had a cold.

Jessica Harris noticed her daughter Alice was under the weather when she picked her up from school on Monday, September 7, which that evening developed into a cough.

She was advised by her GP and Alice’s school, Cheam Park Farm, to keep her off until she could get a test.

Jessica logged onto the government website straight away, where she was told the closest available testing centre slot was 200 miles away.

After repeatedly trying to get a test for her daughter the following day, a home testing kit became available which she received on Thursday (September 10).

“I did the test, which was pretty horrific for her, and dropped it in on Friday morning, I was told it would take 72 hours,” said the mum.

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But Alice did not receive her negative test result until Tuesday (September 15) evening, meaning she missed more than a week of school in total.

Jessica said: “It was an awful experience, luckily I was able to work from home, but it was a nightmare getting a test.

Alice was a bit worried she kept saying ‘when is my test result coming?’ and asking when she could go back to school, at seven years old she shouldn’t have to worry about that.”

Jessica, who is a mortgage administrator, is concerned that the difficulty in getting hold of a test could mean that people just don’t bother getting one.

“It is just going to spread because people won’t follow the rules.

“I was pretty sure it was just a cold she had but I still didn’t send her in to school,” she said.

If you’re not able to work from home it can impact the whole family.”

Now Sutton councillors are calling for schools to be given more coronavirus test kits.

At the start of term just 10 per school were handed out, this equates to 700 kits for a pupil population of 48,000 in the borough.

Councillor Jenny Batt, vice chair of the council’s People Committee, described the lack of tests as “absolutely appalling”.

She said: “It’s just surprising the government had a whole summer to prepare for children returning to school but somehow didn’t see this coming.

“The national and local mood is that ministers have repeatedly bungled their response to the Covid pandemic and I’m just shocked at this latest example.

“It’s also extremely disappointing for parents across Sutton who need to go back to work. Parents, pupils and teachers have all been very badly let down by Tory ministers,” she said.