Wednesday 30 March 2022
Free COVID-19 tests will continue to be available to help protect specific groups of people
As part of the government's 'Living with Covid' plan, which sets out how to live and manage the virus, free universal testing will end on Friday 1 April.
After that, most people will have to purchase COVID-19 tests from pharmacies or other retailers.
Until then, you can still order COVID-19 tests via the government website.
Health and Social Care Secretary, Sajid Javid, announced yesterday that free COVID-19 tests will continue to be available to help protect specific groups of people after Friday 1 April, including those at risk of serious illness from COVID-19, and eligible for treatments. Free tests for NHS and adult social care staff and those in other high-risk settings will also continue.
Who can get free symptomatic COVID-19 tests after Friday 1 April?
The new government guidance states that, after Friday 1 April, free symptomatic COVID-19 PCR testing will be provided for:
- Patients in hospital, where a PCR test is required for their care and to provide access to treatments and to support ongoing clinical surveillance for new variants.
- People who are eligible for community COVID-19 treatments because they are at higher risk of getting seriously ill from coronavirus. People in this group will be contacted directly and sent lateral flow tests to keep at home for use if they have symptoms as well as being told how to reorder tests..
- People living or working in some high-risk settings. For example, staff in adult social care services such as domiciliary care and care home workers, and residents in care homes and extra care and supported living services. NHS workers and those working and living in hospices, prisons and places of detention (including immigration removal centres) will also remain eligible for free tests.
Who can get free COVID-19 rapid lateral flow tests after Friday 1 April?
Rapid lateral flow device (LFD) testing for people without symptoms of COVID-19 will continue after Friday 1 April in some high-risk settings where infection can spread rapidly while prevalence is high. This includes:
- Patient-facing staff in the NHS and NHS-commissioned Independent Healthcare Providers.
- Staff in hospices and adult social care services, such as domiciliary care home care organisations, care homes and a small number of care home visitors who provide personal care
- Staff in some prisons and places of detention (including immigration removal centres) and in high risk domestic abuse refuges and homelessness settings.
- Residential Special Educational Needs and Disabilities facilities, care home staff and residents during an outbreak and for care home residents upon admission.
Why is free COVID-19 testing for the general public ending?
The government says that free universal COVID-19 testing has come at a significant cost to the taxpayer, with the testing, tracing and isolation budget costing over £15.7 billion in 2021-22.
This was necessary due to the severe risk posed by COVID-19 when the population did not have a high level of protection.
Thanks to the success of the COVID-19 vaccination programme and access to antivirals, alongside natural immunity and increased scientific and public understanding about how to manage risk, the population now has much stronger protection against coronavirus than at any other point during the pandemic.
This is enabling the country to begin to manage the virus like other respiratory infections.
Government guidance will be updated on Friday 1 April outlining the steps people can take to reduce the chances of catching COVID-19 and passing it on to others. These actions will also help to reduce the spread of other respiratory infections, such as flu.
Will there ever be mass COVID-19 testing again?
The government has retained the ability to enable a rapid COVID-19 testing response should it be needed, such as the emergence of a new variant of concern.
This includes a stockpile of lateral flow device (LFD) tests and the ability to ramp up testing laboratories and delivery channels.
What to do if you have symptoms of COVID-19 after Friday 1 April
From Friday 1 April, updated government guidance will advise people with symptoms of a respiratory infection, including COVID-19, and a high temperature or who feel unwell, to try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people, until they feel well enough to resume normal activities and they no longer have a high temperature. Until Friday 1 April, please continue to follow the current government guidance.
From Friday 1 April, anyone with a positive COVID-19 test result will be advised to try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people for five days, which is when they are most infectious.
Advice will be provided for individuals who need to leave their home when they have symptoms or have tested positive, including avoiding close contact with people with a weakened immune system, wearing a face-covering and avoiding crowded places.
Children and young people who are unwell and have a high temperature should stay at home and avoid contact with other people, where they can. They can go back to school, college or childcare when they no longer have a high temperature, and they are well enough to attend.
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