The prime minister has been warned it would be “utterly wrongheaded” to scale back free lateral flow tests following reports they could be limited to high risk settings.
Both the Labour Party and Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon have warned Boris Johnson against the move amid concerns tests could be limited to care homes, hospitals and schools, and people with symptoms.
The Sunday Times said the announcement, which could come “within weeks”, may also see the NHS Test and Trace system scaled back.
The free rapid tests were first made available to everyone in England – including those without symptoms – last April.
However, according to a report in The Sunday Times, there are concerns in Whitehall over their costs.
The newspaper claims more than £6bn of public money has been spent on mass testing using the devices.
‘Testing so vital’
Ms Sturgeon said the Scottish government had not signed on to any plans.
“If UK government is really considering this (@scotgov certainly not signed up to it) it is utterly wrongheaded,” she tweeted.
“Hard to imagine much that would be less helpful to trying to ‘live with’ COVID.”
She also questioned what would happen to funding for UK nations for testing if the Westminster government did axe free tests.
“Testing so vital, we’d have to consider continued funding but it would then come from existing budgets,” she added.
“More evidence that current UK funding rules not fit for purpose.”
UK tops 150,000 coronavirus-related deaths since start of pandemic
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COVID-19 deaths reach 150,000
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Source : skynews
