Distance travelled for a coronavirus (COVID-19) test in England: 1 September to 14 September 2020
Published 16 September 2020
Applies to England
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On 9 and 10 September, the Prime Minister, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, and the Secretary of State for Transport quoted that:
- the average distance people travelled for a coronavirus test is 6.4 miles
- 90% of people who booked a test travelled 22 miles or less
- the majority of people travelled less than 10 miles
These figures were calculated using the following information.
Methodology
For each person who successfully registered for a test [footnote 1] under pillar 2 at a Regional Test Site, Local Test Site or Mobile Testing Unit, the distance between their location and their associated testing site was measured as a direct distance. This direct distance is a straight line as the crow flies.
A person’s home location is calculated as the approximate centre of their postal district (for example PO15) provided at the time of booking. These distances are summarised by calculating and reporting the median alongside other percentiles. The figures were calculated using tests registered between 1 to 7 September inclusive, for England only. These figures are also given below for the period between 8 to 14 September.
Data
The data is collected from management information generated during the operation of the NHS Test and Trace service. The different data streams are collated centrally by the Department of Health and Social Care. The centre point of a postcode district [footnote 2] is measured using publicly available ONS census data.
Results
The median value displays a statistical midpoint of the distance between a person and their associated test site.
Between 1 September and 7 September:
- the median distance travelled was 6.4 miles
- 90% of people who registered for a test travelled 22.6 miles or less
Between 8 September and 14 September:
- the median distance travelled was 5.8 miles
- 90% of people who registered for a test travelled 27.8 miles or less
Average distance travelled for a coronavirus (COVID-19) test in England
| Week | Median distance (miles) | 75th percentile (miles) | 90th percentile (miles) | 95th percentile (miles) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Sept to 7 Sept 2020 | 6.4 | 12.7 | 22.6 | 32.6 | |
| 8 Sept to 14 Sept 2020 | 5.8 | 13.3 | 27.8 | 47.3 |