People are still struggling to get their hands on lateral flow test kits in some areas just two days before Christmas.

       There has been a surge in demand after experts urged people to use a rapid test in the final few hours before meeting up with loved ones over the festive period as the Omicron coronavirus variant continues to spread across the UK.

       Anyone who has come into close contact with a positive Covid case in England must also test daily for seven days to avoid self-isolation, while the isolation period for those infected with the disease has been cut to seven days if they get the all-clear from lateral flow tests.

       The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) on Thursday confirmed there had been a supply chain issue which caused a temporary delay to pharmacies receiving their rapid test orders, but that deliveries should have returned to normal.

       However, there have been reports on social media of people being unable to find the test kits in pharmacies or for home delivery with Christmas just around the corner. Manchester, Leeds, Leicestershire and London are among the places reportedly affected.

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       One woman said her daughter was “desperate” to return home for Christmas but had been unsuccessful in tracking down a set of tests where she lived in southeast London.

       Prof Deborah Sugg Ryan wrote on Twitter: “My daughter is trying to locate lateral flow tests in London SE4.

       “Has been working her way down list on NHS website but everywhere she’s tried has been out of stock. She tested positive 7 days ago & is desperate to come home for Christmas!”

       Others vented their frustration at trekking to several pharmacies in their local area only to find posters notifying them they were out of stock.

       Brian Barnard said every single pharmacy had run out of the tests until the new year in the West Midlands town where he lived.

       He tweeted: “Trying to get LFT kits in my W Midlands town (pop 130k). All pharmacies apparently out of stock. No stock till New Year.

       “1st one I went to said it had never been a collection pt & had repeatedly asked to be taken off NHS website.”

       While another Twitter user claimed all of Portsmouth’s pharmacies had been out of stock for three days on the trot.

       “Where can I get lateral flow tests for home use,” they wrote. “No pharmacy in Portsmouth has any, they’ve been out of stock for 3 days now and don’t know when they’re getting them. We were pinged 2 days!”

       Derbyshire County Council’s community testing team, which had set up a stall in a shopping centre, ran out of tests on Thursday “due to unprecedented demand”, while Milton Keynes Council was also waiting on more stock to continue handing out the free tests at its Central Library.

       More than 11 million rapid test kits were sent out to pharmacies last week, according to UKHSA, while a further 7 million were distributed to households ordering online over the weekend.

       A spokesperson said: “Despite unprecedented demand, we are continuing to supply millions of rapid lateral flow tests every day.

       “We are issuing record numbers of rapid test kits to people’s homes across the country, and our delivery capacity has doubled to 900,000 test kits per day since Saturday 18 December so more people can order tests.

       “Over the last weekend, more than 7 million lateral flow tests were distributed to households ordering online.

       “Due to a supply chain issue, there was a temporary delay in some pharmacies receiving their rapid test orders. Pharmacies are now continuing to receive deliveries.

       “Last week saw record numbers of rapid tests distributed to pharmacies, with over 11 million test kits sent.”

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       Prime minister Boris Johnson on Thursday thanked everyone involved in the “national testing mission” as he announced 17 million lateral flow tests had been dispatched in the last week.

       The UKHSA said there had been 16,817 additional confirmed cases of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 reported across the UK the same day, bringing the total confirmed cases of the variant in the UK to 90,906.