UK authorities ease COVID testing requirements in England
LONDON (AP) — U.K. health authorities eased COVID-19 testing requirements in England on Wednesday, in a move that could help tackle staff shortages that are hitting public services from hospitals and ambulances to trains and garbage collection amid an omicron-fueled surge in infections.
The change came a day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that England has “a chance to ride out” the omicron variant-driven surge in infections without imposing tough lockdown measures. He was meeting with Cabinet ministers Wednesday before answering questions in Parliament and delivering a statement on COVID-19.
The new rules don't apply to the other parts of the U.K. — Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales — which formulate their own health regulations.
The U.K. Health Security Agency said that from Jan. 11 people in England who test positive using a rapid lateral flow test will no longer need to confirm the result with a PCR test if they are asymptomatic.
The temporary move, which also was used by the government early last year, will cut the time people who record a positive lateral flow test but don't have COVID-19 symptoms need to self-isolate. They will no longer need to wait for the result of a PCR test and then begin another seven days of isolation.
“While cases of COVID continue to rise, this tried-and-tested approach means that LFDs (lateral flow devices) can be used confidently to indicate COVID-19 infection without the need for PCR confirmation," said the health security agency's chief executive, Jenny Harries.
John Edmunds, Professor in the Centre for the Mathematical Modelling of Infectious Diseases, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said the move made sense.
“When the prevalence is high — and it is incredibly high at the moment — almost everyone who...
