Free lateral flow Covid tests to be scrapped by JULY under No10’s ‘Operation Rampdown’

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Free Covid lateral flow tests will be scrapped from July under the Government’s virus ‘exit strategy’, according to documents sent between the UK’s health agencies.  

Ministers have urged Britons to take the swabs regularly in an attempt to quell the spread of Omicron — but only key workers will be able to access free tests if No10’s mooted plan to ‘ramp down the Universal Testing Offer’ gets signed off. 

Instead, officials say an online ordering system will be ready by the end of June to direct Britons to purchase the tests, which are said to cost the Government £30 per pack of seven. 

No10 has previously said it would ‘at a later stage’ stop offering everyone the tests, which are free to order from the Government website or pick up at pharmacies. No10 has spent billions of pounds on securing the kits as part of its mass-testing strategy. 

Amid record high cases at the start of the year, more than 8million lateral flows were registered over the space of one week. However, only a fraction of tests used are officially logged.

But Covid infections have been in freefall for the past fortnight, with 94,432 cases reported yesterday, a fall of 20 per cent on last week. The natural fizzling out of the Omicron wave has piled pressure on Boris Johnson to unveil his pandemic ‘exit strategy’ to prepare the country for living with Covid like flu.

Even NHS consultants have now claimed the end is ‘now in sight’ with hospitalisations falling. Dr Richard Cree, an intensive care consultant at Middlesbrough’s James Cook University Hospital, said: ‘I am confident that the worst will soon be behind us.’

Boris Johnson is expected to announce this afternoon that he is lifting Plan B curbs in England from January 26, including work from home guidance and Covid passes for some events.

It is thought the Government will continue to tell people to wear face masks in certain settings including public transport, but it is unclear if this will be a legal requirement or guidance. 

The announcement will be the latest move as part of ‘Operation Red Meat’ — a policy blitz cooked up by Number 10 in a bid to win back the support of Tory MPs and voters following the Partygate row. 

The document sent between the Department of Health and UK Health Security Agency shows the public will have to start paying for lateral flow tests from July, a later date than originally planned due to the emergence of the super infectious Omicron strain. 

It states there will be a ‘triage’ system to inform people whether they are eligible for a free test. 

It acknowledged that some of those who expected to get a free test but could no longer get one would react ‘negatively’. 

However, health officials said the July target may be pushed back again if another ‘curveball’ emerges, such as another variant. 

Earlier documents on plans to wind back free Covid tests warned the move could result in a stampede of families ‘stockpiling’ lateral flow tests and discourage the most vulnerable, including the poorest, from testing. 

Mass testing had been a critical part of Britain’s fight against the virus, but a damning report by MPs last year found that despite an ‘eye-watering’ £37billion budget over two years, NHS Test and Trace has failed in its main objective of helping stop the virus spreading.

More than 691million free lateral flow tests were distributed by November but only 96million of these – 14 per cent – have been used to register a test result with the NHS, the report by the Public Accounts Committee found.

A Government spokesperson said: ‘We will continue to provide free tests as long as necessary. 

‘It is one of the most important lines of defence, alongside our vaccines programme.

‘With cases remaining high, we continue to process millions of tests a day – more than any European country – providing a free LFD to anybody who needs one.’

But Professor Iain Buchan, chair in public health at the University of Liverpool who led a trial of lateral flow tests in the city, said Britain’s approach of making the tests freely available for months, unlike many other countries, had been a success, and cautioned against introducing charges for tests.

He warned: ‘Viruses move quicker than free market economics.’ 

And Professor Jason Leitch, Scotland’s national clinical director, said it is ‘too early’ to decide whether free lateral flow tests can come to an end. 

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme there has ‘certainly been no suggestion that in the near future they will be charged for’.

Professor Leitch added: ‘I think they are a crucial building block of our baseline, a bit like Test and Trace, Test and Protect for us in Scotland, the alcohol gels, the vaccinations, I think these are what we’re going to be left with post-Omicron.’ 

Asked if Britain is in the ‘endgame’, Professor Leitch said: ‘I think we’re in the endgame of Omicron. I’m afraid that’s not the answer you wanted.

‘Nobody knows if we’re in the endgame of the whole pandemic. And anybody who does, I’m afraid it’s hope rather than reality.

‘I hope we’re in the endgame, and the WHO are telling us still to be cautious – don’t drop your guard for surveillance of other variants that might come into your country or you might generate yourself.

‘But we’re definitely in a downward slope of Omicron, which is terrific news.’

However, intensive care medic Dr Cree said he is ‘confident’ that the worst of the pandemic ‘will soon be behind us’.

He said: ‘Yesterday saw our total number of Covid-positive patients peak at 176, which is more than we saw during the first wave back in April 2020.

‘However, things are not the same. Far fewer patients are unwell like they were back then.

‘The Covid wards are no longer full of people struggling to breathe.’

While the situation is better than staff were expecting, the hospital is still finding it a challenge to cope with such a large number of patients, he said.

Dr Cree said: ‘The staff sickness rate is decreasing but there are still many members of staff who are unable to work following infection with Omicron.

‘Empty beds remain hard to come by and many patients continue to experience long waits in A&E.’

He said social care staff shortages has led to difficulties in discharging patients once they have recovered, leading to ‘clogged’ hospitals. 

It comes as Boris Johnson is set to announce the end of Plan B curbs, with the exception of face mask requirements, which are due to expire on January 26.

Increasingly positive data means ministers are now confident they can lift work from home guidance and axe the use of Covid passes at large venues.  

However, the expected move to retain face mask rules is likely to spark a Tory backlash. 

Lord Frost, the former Brexit minister who quit the Cabinet in December over the imposition of Plan B, tweeted this morning: ‘It is good news if the Cabinet does decide this morning to lift some ‘Plan B’ restrictions. 

‘But the job isn’t done if mask wearing remains in place. The evidence for masks is weak & the many downsides are persistently discounted. All Plan B measures need lifting *for good*.’  

A Government spokesman said: ‘Decisions on the next steps remain finely balanced.

‘Plan B was implemented in December to slow the rapid spread of the extremely transmissible Omicron variant, and get more jabs in arms. 

‘It’s thanks to the phenomenal efforts of the NHS and many dedicated volunteers that we have now delivered over 36million boosters to people across the UK.

‘The Omicron variant continues to pose a significant threat and the pandemic is not over. 

‘Infections remain high but the latest data is encouraging, with cases beginning to fall. 

‘Vaccines remain our best line of defence and we urge people to come forward, to give themselves the best possible protection.’

The Government is now turning its attention to coming up with a long-term strategy for living with the disease. 

The Times reported that this is likely to mean local Covid testing centres starting to shut down in the spring. 

The Treasury believes the estimated £10billion a year cost of the testing operation is not sustainable and wants it to be reduced. 

It is thought the long-term coronavirus strategy could be unveiled by the Government by the end of February. 

It is likely to include the end of free lateral flow tests and changes to self-isolation rules for people who test positive.       

A Government source told The Times: ‘The wind-down will be quite swift and will mean fewer test centres because we don’t need all of the sites.’

Official Government data showed there were a further 94,432 Covid cases recorded in the UK yesterday while a further 438 people had died within 28 days of testing positive.    

A total of 19,450 people were in hospital in the UK with Covid-19 as of January 17.

This is down two per cent week-on-week – though the total had risen slightly in the most recent two days.

During the second wave of coronavirus, the number of hospital patients peaked at 39,254 on January 18, 2021.

There were 1,892 Covid-19 hospital admissions on January 14, the latest UK-wide figure available, down five per cent week-on-week.

Admissions during the second wave peaked at 4,583 on January 12 2021.

Lifting the Plan B restrictions is part of a Downing Street policy blitz, dubbed ‘Operation Red Meat’, designed to stabilise the PM’s premiership after the Partygate row. 

Other crowd-pleasing policies have already been announced, including bringing in the military to tackle the migrant Channel crossings crisis and freezing the BBC licence fee for two years.