Outrage at plans to scrap free Covid testing – ‘This will jeopardise lives’
Experts have slammed government plans to end free Covid testing, saying the move would “jeopardise lives" and risk the pandemic spiralling out of control.
Free lateral flow and PCR tests are set to be scrapped next week, according to LBC.
The change will mean everyone – including vulnerable people, children and health and care workers – will have to pay to access tests for Covid.
LBC reported that the plans are part of the government’s “living with Covid” strategy, which is set to be launched on Monday.
Many experts have reacted with anger, warning the change would risk lives, make inequality worse and stop the UK's ability to track Covid variants.
People can currently get free lateral flow tests online, from a pharmacy, work, school, college or university and other locations in the community.
Dr Jonathan Stoye, group leader at the retrovirus-host interactions laboratory at the Francis Crick Institute, said: “Despite the successes of vaccination, many people are still at risk.
“Any significant reduction in testing will jeopardise lives and compromise our ability to monitor the appearance of new variants.”
Dr Zubaida Haque, a member of Independent Sage, added: “There are huge inequality implications of ending free Covid testing and financial payments for isolation.
“These unproven measures will create a two-tier society where lower income groups [and] those in more insecure work will be less able to protect themselves and their loved ones.”
Kit Yates, mathematical biologist at the University of Bath, tweeted: “I haven't come across one scientist suggesting that this is a good idea.”
Read more:
'The right thing to do': WHO urges Brits to keep wearing masks and social distance
All domestic Covid laws could be scrapped by end of February, Boris Johnson announces
Covid vaccine to be offered to all five to 11-year-olds in Wales, minister says
The government's own advisers have warned Boris Johnson that scrapping free tests could have widespread negative consequences.
Experts on the Scientific Pandemic Insights Group on Behaviours (SPIB), a subgroup of Sage, said in a document published on Friday: "These changes may increase anxiety among some people and limit their social participation outside the home, particularly those who are, or who live with, someone who is clinically vulnerable".
The report also said the withdrawal of free testing for those experiencing possible Covid symptoms might unintentionally give the message that it is acceptable to continue with social contacts regardless of infection or symptoms.
It comes amid calls to designate the BA.2 sub-lineage of omicron as a variant of concern (VOC).
Deepti Gurdasani, an epidemiologist and senior lecturer at Queen Mary University of London, said the mutation had double the growth rate than BA.2 in England and was heading towards dominance.
She also criticised the government’s decision to halt free testing and isolation, saying it would limit experts' ability to track the spread of the variant, and any others that emerge in the future.
Earlier this month, prime minister Boris Johnson announced that legal rules in England are expected to be scrapped ahead of schedule.
Responding to Tuesday’s reports of ending free Covid testing, a government spokesperson said no decisions had yet been made.
