Covid test

Prime Minister confirms next steps for living with Covid-19; Vaccines will remain first line of defence against the virus with further boosters this spring ...

From the start of April, the government will end free symptomatic and asymptomatic testing for the general public. The Government remains ready to respond if a new variant emerges and places unsustainable pressure on the NHS, through surveillance systems and contingency measures such as increased testing capacity or vaccine programmes. As set out in the Autumn and Winter Plan, universal free provision of tests will end as our response to the virus changes. Adults and children who test positive are advised to stay at home and avoid contact with other people for at least five full days and then continue to follow the guidance until they have received two negative test results on consecutive days. The Government will continue to be guided by the JCVI on future vaccine programmes. The Plan, published today, sets out how vaccines and other pharmaceutical interventions will continue to form our first line of defence.

Until Thursday 24 February, if you test positive for Covid you must still self isolate. Final guidance is being updated by the government and will be available ...

People who test positive for Covid will no longer be legally required to self isolate. Routine contact tracing in England will also end. Where someone under 18 years tests positive, their parents or guardians will no longer have a legal responsibility to ensure they self-isolate.

From Thursday 24 February, people who receive a positive Covid test will not be obliged under law to self-isolate. Routine contact tracing, financial support ...

“They are also individuals most likely to be under financial pressure to continue working if able… Start your Independent Premium subscription today. It will also lift the legal requirement for close contacts who are not fully vaccinated to self-isolate from Thursday 24 February. There will be no legal requirement for you to self-isolate if you test positive for Covid from Thursday 24 February. However, you will still be advised to stay at home and avoid contact with other people for at least five days if you test positive for the virus. Routine contact tracing, financial support for people on low incomes to self-isolate and the legal obligation for people to tell their employers about their requirement to isolate will also come to an end on Thursday.

The Government website ran out last night with packs still unavailable online and via the 119 phone line this morning after Boris Johnson said they would be ...

But Mologic, one of the largest British testmakers, said the tests can cost $2 (£1.47) to make. and the kits themselves can cost just PENNIES to make You used to be able to order a pack of lateral flow tests every 24 hours. 'So it may take a while for things to even out. But the scheme costs No10 £2billion per month. Boris Johnson is planning to wind down the Covid testing drive. UK gears up for £3 swabs from April 1 - but lateral flows can be three times cheaper in French supermarkets... Just 346 people infected with the virus were in critical care beds on February 15, the most recent data figures are available for. very glad testing and isolation rules are staying the same in Wales at the moment'. English dramatist and academic Dan Rebellato tweeted a picture of his own 'absurd tower' of tests in his office. But the scheme costs No10 £2billion per month. Yesterday the Government already started secretly rationing, limiting orders to one pack in 72 hours rather than every 24 hours.

The government will remove its advice for staff and students in “most education and childcare settings” to test twice a week for Covid from today, ...

From April 1, the government will also end “free symptomatic and asymptomatic testing for the general public”, though those in the oldest age groups and the most vulnerable will still get free symptomatic tests. And from today, the government is “removing the guidance for staff and students in most education and childcare settings to undertake twice weekly asymptomatic testing”, Johnson said. The government will remove its advice for staff and students in “most education and childcare settings” to test twice a week for Covid from today, Boris Johnson has announced.

Rishi Sunak has received a questionnaire from the Metropolitan Police in its investigation into the partygate saga. The PA news agency understands the ...

the sun is shining but we’re keeping our umbrella.” “People West Yorkshire have suffered more than most during this pandemic, so it’s absolutely vital we make the right decision. A recent YouGov poll highlighted only 1-5 people support the scrapping of self-isolation. And much of the public agree. “They underwent multiple trials and were subject to stringent approval processes. The British Medical Association (BMA) warned that the “living with Covid” strategy “fails to protect those at highest risk of harm from Covid-19, and neglects some of the most vulnerable people in society”. The axing of self-isolation laws and the end of free universal testing in England will cause uncertainty, anxiety and hardship, according to unions and charities. The council said in a statement that the move is in response to “the evolution of the pandemic” and “the increasing vaccination uptake and administration of booster doses”. These are very vulnerable patients. The number of free tests available each day will be capped to “manage demand” as the Government scales back free testing for people in England. For Northern Ireland the trend is also uncertain, with the proportion of people with Covid-19 broadly unchanged (one in 14, down from one in 13) and the total down from 146,600 to 132,700. In England around one in 25 people in private households are estimated to have had the virus in the week to February 19, or 2.1 million people – down from one in 20, or 2.4 million people in the week to February 12.