People who test positive on lateral flow will ‘no longer need follow-up PCR check’

People who get a positive result on a home lateral flow test will no longer need the follow-up PCR check, new reports are suggesting today.

Instead, they will be told to self-isolate for a week until they receive a negative result on days six or seven.

According to Metro, the relaxation of the measure will be announced by the government at some point today in a bid to tackle the ongoing staff shortages experienced across various sectors, the NHS included.

The rule change will mean those who are asymptomatic – believed to make up around 40% of all Covid cases – will be able to return to work sooner.

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Ministers also hope the change will reduce infection spread, as less infectious people will be required to leave their homes to get a PCR test.

A health source said: “The overwhelming likelihood is that if you have a positive lateral flow, then you are infectious.

“So there is no need for an extra PCR check when testing is already under huge strain.”

This comes after Paul Hunter, a professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia, warned ‘the pain of self-isolation’ could be causing more issues for the public and healthcare workers than the virus itself.

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Appearing on BBC Breakfast last week, Prof Hunter said: “This is a disease that’s not going away, the infection is not going away, although we’re not going to see as severe disease for much longer.

“Ultimately, we’re going to have to let people who are positive with Covid go about their normal lives as they would do with any other cold. And so, at some point, we’ve got to relax this.

“If the self-isolation rules are what’s making the pain associated with Covid, then we need to do that perhaps sooner rather than later. Maybe not quite just yet.”

He concluded that Covid will eventually become ‘just another cause of the common cold’.