The British government is “interrupting” plans for the rapid launch of the daily Covid-19 tests on close contacts of positive cases for students and staff in secondary schools and English colleges, it announced on Wednesday.
A government spokesman said the change in plans was the result of updated advice from UK scientific advisers. “NHS Test and Trace and Public Health England have reviewed their advice and concluded that, given the prevalence and higher rates of transmission of the new variant, further assessment is needed to ensure that it achieves its goal of it breaks the transmission chains and reduces the virus cases in the community “, said the spokesman.
“Therefore, we are discontinuing daily contact testing in all but a small number of high schools and colleges, where it will continue alongside the detailed assessment.”
In a statement, Public Health England (PHE) and NHS Test and Trace cited concerns about the more transmissible version of Covid-19 discovered in the UK as a reason for the change, commenting that “the pandemic has entered a new phase” and that the balance of risks and benefits for the daily Covid-19 tests is now “unclear” and recommended to the government that the launch of the daily contact tests be stopped.
The Covid strain VOC202012 / 01 was discovered in the UK and has been spreading in the south-east of England since November 2020.
The mass testing program in high schools and colleges was due to begin in January to help identify asymptomatic cases among students and staff and reduce the need for self-isolation by using 30-minute side-flow tests.
He planned daily tests for all staff and students that were “close contact of a confirmed case, reducing the need for self-isolation” for all high schools and colleges, along with weekly quick tests for all high school and college staff. , according to the Department for Education.
National lock-in measures across England have forced schools to remain closed from 5 January, however, the children of key workers are still allowed to participate. PHE confirmed that schools should continue to test staff and students currently attending schools.
While daily testing of Covid-19 in schools was hailed by UK Education Secretary Gavin Williamson as an “important moment in our work to keep schools and colleges open to all” in December, scientists and- they expressed concern that the tests may not be accurate enough and could falsely reassure people and increase the spread of coronavirus.