England's coronavirus testing strategy was criticized for being reckless in light of plans to eliminate rapid tests and allow for more monitoring from overseas.
As part of the overhaul of Downing Streets pandemic approach, families and businesses will be required to pay for lateral flow testing starting next year.
Since April, when they became freely available in England, more than 95m have used the 30-minute tests. They cost between 5-30 per test and have been reported to have detected more than 620,000 cases. These were mostly people who are not showing symptoms, but could still transmit the virus.
Mayors, teachers unions, and directors of public healthcare said that charging for lateral flow testing was backwards. This could lead to schools being thrown back into chaos, increase the spread of the virus, and worsen health inequalities.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of NAHT's school leaders union, stated that the best way to minimize disruption to children's education is to keep Covid cases as low as possible. This is why testing is so important. It would be irresponsible to remove free access to Covid testing while the cases are still high. Schools cannot afford to pay for the tests of all their students and families.
Even though the tests can be ordered online by anyone without symptoms, they are mainly used in schools, care homes, and the NHS. According to Guardian analysis, they have detected almost 173,000 positive cases at nurseries, schools, and colleges, and more than 35,000 in care homes.
Andy Burnham, mayor of Greater Manchester, stated that charging for lateral flow testing was a backward move. He added: We believe that charging for lateral flow testing could only lead to an increased spread of the virus, and worsen those inequalities weve witnessed all the way through this pandemic.
This week's winter plan stated that lateral flow devices will continue to be free for the foreseeable future, but that the free universal provision of LFDs will cease. Individuals and businesses will have to pay the costs. According to the document, the government will engage in extensive discussions about charging because rapid tests may continue to play an important and ongoing role in the future.
It was not clear how schools and care homes would finance the provision of lateral flow testing once they cease to be free. A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care stated that LFDs are crucial to stopping the spread of Covid-19 and that they are why we have extended the free provision of these tests.
Kevin Courtney, joint general Secretary of the National Education Union said that if government wants regular testing to occur over the long-term, then financial barriers will be necessary. This will result in a greater spread of testing.
The use of lateral flow testing has declined from an average of 7.5m per week in spring to nearly 6,000 cases in the week to September 8th.
Jamie Driscoll of the North of Tyne was quoted as saying that expecting low-wage workers to pay for quick tests to give the all-clear to return to work was the opposite of levelling up. It was counterproductive and counterproductive, he said, adding that when you have a deadly communicable disease such as Covid, why would you reduce the public health benefits associated with testing?
Professor Kate Ardern is the Greater Manchester's lead director for public health. She questioned why people would have to pay for coronavirus testing when other diseases such as tuberculosis are free on the NHS. She said that anything that could deter people from continuing [testing] is potentially worrying.
Prof Dominic Harrison, the director of public health in Blackburn-with-Darwen, which has had the most Covid cases per capita since the start of the pandemic, said it was critical that testing remained free for those most at risk
He stated that anything that prevents community testing in high-risk communities (which we know are often low-income) will increase the chance of transmission, hospitalisation, and death.
