According to reports, a minister of health has insisted that the PCR test for foreign travel will continue in force for the foreseeable future.
Lord Bethell stated to test providers at a roundtable, that tests which cost on average more than 70 dollars are unlikely to end in the near future despite calls from the travel industry for them to be.
Senior MPs want the PCR tests to go away and be replaced with cheaper lateral flow tests. This would apply to double-vaccinated holidaymakers who are returning from the UK under the amber or green list countres. All visitors must take at least one PCR test within the first two days of their return.
Recent evidence shows that only one in 140 tourists returning from green countries have tested positive for Covid-19 upon arrival in the UK.
However, Lord Bethells intervention suggested that government scientists and the Department of Health and Social Care would oppose any relaxation of the current testing system when it comes up to review, according to the Telegraph.
The taskforce of governments on global travel has committed to conducting a checkpoint review and testing the traffic light system for international travelers by October 1.
One participant in the roundtable said that the general feeling was that PCR tests will be around for some time.
It was also the narrative, as providers need to be encouraged to remain in the game over the long-term as they continue to change the rules. That is costly to keep resetting.
The purpose of the meeting with top providers was to discuss how to combat cowboy testing companies that rip off holidaymakers by charging misleading prices, inflating costs, and causing delays or loss of results. Sajid Javid, Health Secretary, removed 57 companies from the list and put 82 on notice.
Ministers previously stated that these tests were necessary to protect against Covid variants. This is because they allow the virus to be sequenced. It's not possible with cheaper, less precise lateral flow tests which can cost as low as 10.
According to a government source, PCR tests will be around for a while because they are very valuable in mapping the genome.
New NHS data shows that only 0.7% of those 93,228 people who were tested positive after arriving from green list countries during the three weeks leading up to August 11, were positive. This was 1.3% for those arriving from amber countries, and 2.5% for those from red.
Sequential tests of green or red list arrivals revealed no variants. However, 0.1% of the 442,927 amber people tested positive for known variants.
