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Free lateral flow tests ‘could be axed within weeks’ as UK told to live with Covid
The reports claim the free tests will only be available in high-risk settings such as care homes, hospitals and schools
Free lateral flow tests could soon be scrapped for the majority of the public within weeks as the UK is told to ‘live with Covid’.
According to The Sunday Times, Boris Johnson is set to announce the new plans within weeks, which will see free tests given out only in high-risk settings such as care homes, hospitals and schools, and to people with symptoms.
Contact tracing by NHS Test and Trace could also be scaled back, the newspaper reported.
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A senior Whitehall source said: “I don’t think we are in a world where we can continue to hand out free lateral flow tests to everybody forevermore.
“It’s likely we will move to a scenario where there is less testing but where we have a capacity to ramp it up if necessary, such as in the winter.”
While the Department for Health is yet to comment on the reports, Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi has said there were ‘absolutely not’ any plans to scrap the rapid tests.
When asked if the free tests would be axed, he told Sky News’ Trevor Phillips on Sunday: “This is absolutely not where we are at.
“For January alone, 425 million lateral flow tests coming in and they will continue to be available for free… I don’t really recognise where that story is coming from.”
The free rapid tests have been available to everyone in England, including those without symptoms, and have become one of the most popular and time efficient ways of identifying and suppressing Covid.
However, since the start of the pandemic, experts have been warning the government about the cost of the tests and their accuracy in detecting the virus.
With more than £1 billion spent on purchasing lateral flow tests in January 2021, experts told the BMJ that the public was been misled about their accuracy, as well as the risks and implications of false negative results, before calling on the government urgently to change course.