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Free lateral flow tests will ‘absolutely not’ be axed ex-vaccines minister insists after cost-cutting reports
FREE lateral flow tests will "absolutely not" be axed, the former vaccines minister insisted today.
Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said there are no plans to end free lateral flow tests - despite several reports claiming they would be scrapped.
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Plans reportedly being considered by officials could mean that the tests would only be available at no cost in "high-risk"; settings such as care homes, hospitals and schools.
The cost-cutting move would also see the NHS Test and Trace service scaled back, according to .
A Whitehall source told the newspaper: “I don’t think we are in a world where we can continue to hand out free lateral flow tests to everybody forevermore.
"It’s likely we will move to a scenario where there is less testing but where we have a capacity to ramp it up if necessary, such as in the winter.”
The move is believed to be part of the Government's future strategy for living with the virus as ministers predict six more years of Covid.
However, it is understood that a final decision on lateral flow tests is yet to be made.
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It comes as a string of hugely positive studies show Omicron IS milder than other strains, with the first official UK report revealing the risk of hospitalisation is 50 to 70 per cent lower than with Delta.
Covid booster jabs protect against Omicron and offer the best chance to get through the pandemic, health officials have repeatedly said.
The Sun's Jabs Army campaign is helping get the vital extra vaccines in Brits' arms to ward off the need for any new restrictions.
But Mr Zahawi this morning insisted there are no plans to end free lateral flow tests.
He told Sky's Trevor Phillips on Sunday that he was "puzzled" by the reports and confirmed the tests will continue to be free.
Mr Zahawi added: "I saw that story this morning, which I was slightly puzzled by because I don't recognise it at all. This is absolutely not where we are at.
"For January alone, 425 million lateral flow tests coming in and they will continue to be available for free.
"I don't really recognise where that story is coming from."
Questioned whether there are no plans to stop lateral flow tests being free, he said: "Absolutely not."
He has also backed the move from to cut the self-isolation period from seven days to five - saying the country is “witnessing the transition of the virus from pandemic to endemic”.
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Labour shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said "lateral flow tests have got to remain free whilst we have huge numbers of cases on a daily basis".
Speaking on the BBC's Sunday Morning programme, Ms Reeves said: "The proposal today that lateral flow tests are no longer going to be free - these are absolutely the wrong policies and the wrong approach at the wrong time.
"The best way to stop further restrictions, and I do not want to see further restrictions to our life and to our economy, is to ensure that people can test and test regularly to stop passing on the virus.
"That's why we believe that those lateral flow tests have got to remain free whilst we have huge numbers of cases on a daily basis."
The PM has already announced that from next week people who have a positive lateral flow test will no longer have to confirm their condition with a PCR test if they have no symptoms.
Any decision to scrap free lateral flow tests would come at a time when Covid cases have reached record levels.
There were nearly 1.3 million confirmed infections in the past week across the UK.
UK Covid deaths yesterday passed the grim milestone of 150,000 since the pandemic began - although daily cases dropped for the fourth day in a row.
The number of people who have died of Covid in the UK since the beginning of that pandemic now stands at 150,057 with 313 more deaths reported on Saturday.
Professor Andrew Hayward, who advises the Government as part of Sage, said the UK recording more than 150,000 deaths after positive Covid tests was "absolutely tragic".
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After hearing the testimony of a woman who lost two close relatives during the pandemic, the University College London academic told BBC Radio 4's PM programme: "It is absolutely tragic and to think that's been repeated so many times is awful.
"I think we could have done better. I think some of the deaths are even more tragic for the fact that many of them were avoidable if we had acted earlier in the first and second wave."
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