Follow-up PCR tests scrapped as government seeks to relieve growing staff absences
The government has scrapped the necessary PCR tests following a positive Covid-19 result from a lateral flow today, in a bid to tackle growing staff shortages.
The changes will come into effect on January 11 – a move which has been called for by an increasing number of businesses.
It comes as “around a million people” have to isolate due to Covid-19, a minister has revealed, as Boris Johnson held back on new restrictions and testing rules in his announcement on Tuesday.
“We don’t actually collect that data on a daily basis, but it’s obvious if you look at how many people tested positive yesterday, about 215,000, that they’ll all be self-isolating and obviously from the previous days,” health minister Gillian Keegan said.
“So it’s about a million people probably are self-isolating right now.”
The prime minister said yesterday that 100,000 workers in England, “from food processing to transport to Border Force”, will have to test daily from 10 January.
It comes as Omicron has prompted a spike in case numbers in recent weeks. Despite record high daily infections, Johnson urged yesterday that the country can “ride out” the latest wave without a new lockdown.
He added that the government will not bring in more England Covid-19 restrictions at a crunch meeting tomorrow.
The NHS will move onto a “war footing”, Johnson added, with current curbs providing the “right balance”.