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HomeHeadline StoryExclusive: ‘Don’t stop Covid tests’

Exclusive: ‘Don’t stop Covid tests’

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The Confederation of British Industry (CBI), which represents company bosses, also urged ministers not to force people to pay for lateral flow tests.

“In the bigger picture, it would be ‘penny wise and pound foolish’ to withdraw free lateral flow tests at this stage,” the president of the CBI and founder of Cobra Beer, Lord Bilimoria, told Eastern Eye.

“We feel we’re heading in the right direction. This is hopefully the last mile where we are putting the pandemic behind us all around the world.

“They [the government] said the cost of testing in January was £2 billion. That, of course, includes PCR testing. So, we’re saying, if you want to withdraw the PCR testing, well, that’s one thing.

“But make lateral flow testing, which is the one that’s convenient, the one that’s cheap and affordable, have that available on a voluntary basis.”

The peer said the CBI did not expect free tests to continue indefinitely, but now was not the time to scrap it.

The changes mean from Thursday (24):

  • those who test positive for Covid-19 will no longer have to self-isolate
  • routine contact tracing will end. This means those who have been fully vaccinated, close contacts, and those who are under 18, will not be legally required to test daily for seven days
  • people on low incomes who test positive for Covid will no longer be given a £500 self-isolation support payment
  • increased statutory sick pay for those with Covid will apply for a further month

In April, only the most vulnerable will be given free tests, and people will have to exercise “personal responsibility” when deciding whether to stay at home if they contract Covid, Johnson said.

He told the Commons, “Restrictions take a heavy toll on our economy, our society, our mental wellbeing, and the life chances of our children, and we do not need to pay that cost any longer.

“We have the antivirals, the treatments, and the scientific understanding of this virus, and we have the capabilities to respond rapidly to any resurgence or new variant.

“It is time that we got our confidence back. We do not need laws to compel people to be considerate to others.

“So let us learn to live with this virus and continue protecting ourselves without restricting our freedoms.”

The prime minister also told MPs the UK had almost five million antiviral therapeutic doses available for the most vulnerable in society. The CBI said employers may have to pick up the cost of the lateral flow tests for their staff.

Lord Karan Bilimoria
Lord Karan Bilimoria

“Many employers will say, ‘if you have Covid symptoms, we would expect you to take a test’,” Bilimoria told Eastern Eye.

“Some employers will be able to afford – when the free testing is withdrawn – to be able to provide those tests to their employees, and then if they’re positive, they will say, ‘please isolate until you get negative or for five days’.

“That might be something employers themselves will want their employees to do. This will be down to each employer.”

But he agreed with the BMA that self-employed workers would face difficult choices, so the government had to step in for the time being.

“If you’ve got all these antivirals, how are you going to use them?

“You’re going to use them to find out that somebody’s got Covid. And you know how you find that – if somebody’s got symptoms, they’re going to test to see if they’ve got Covid.

“Now, if tests are not freely available, that person has got to go and buy those,” Bilimoria said.

“Everybody should have the ability to test and have access to the antivirals, not just vulnerable people.”

Seema Malhotra MP

The government’s plan was attacked by Seema Malhotra, who is the shadow minister for small business, consumers and labour markets, because the prime minister did not say whether frontline NHS staff or care homes would continue to be protected.

“The prime minister has come to the House unable to state whether carers in our communities, visiting home after home in one day, often the homes of older people and the clinically extremely vulnerable, will still have access to free tests to keep themselves and their patients and clients safe,” said Malhotra, the Labour MP for Feltham and Heston in west London.

“He said that testing for NHS staff will be a matter for the NHS. Surely, he can do better than that. The NHS and carers need to plan ahead,” she added. “Will he come clean with the House about his intentions?”

Nagpaul, meanwhile, described the government’s decision to scrap free tests as “completely illogical”.

He said, “There must also be urgent clarity around testing provision for NHS workers. People visit hospitals and surgeries to get better, and not to be exposed to deadly viruses, and the continuation of testing for healthcare workers is invaluable in protecting both staff and patients.

“That plans are underway for a new booster programme is sensible, but we must not, as we have continued to state, rely solely on vaccination in order to protect the nation.”

He also warned that the country would be living with the virus for the foreseeable future. “The necessity for further boosters underlines that Covid-19 will continue to present a challenge for healthcare services and wider society for potentially many years to come.

“And while the prime minister talks about omicron resulting in a mild illness for most, others will still become very unwell with Covid-19. An estimated more than one million people continue to live with long Covid, themselves needing ongoing care.”

That concern over long Covid was echoed by Labour’s Dr Rupa Huq. “The prime minister justifies this crowd-pleaser for his own MPs by warning us about damage to the economy,” the London MP said during the living with Covid debate.

“The Office for National Statistics says that 1.3 million of our fellow citizens are suffering from the debilitating condition of long Covid, which has rendered 396,000 people economically inactive,” she added. “It causes dysfunctionality and ages people by 10 years.

“What is the prime minister doing to advance research and treatment into this condition? How does today’s exercise help those people?”

Johnson said his government had invested £224 million in NHS treatment of long Covid, and it was putting another £50m into researching the condition.

‘Ending curbs puts minorities at risk’

THE chair of the BMA, Dr Chaand Nagpaul, told Eastern Eye he was concerned about the “disproportionate impact” the latest measures would have on south Asian communities.

“I’ve seen firsthand the devastatingly disproportionate impact that Covid-19 has had on people from ethnic minority backgrounds, and am very worried about the effect that the policies will have on these groups,” he said.

“This includes people living in multi-generation households where older relatives will be put at further risk when younger people who cannot access testing will not know if they’ve got the virus, as well as those who live in overcrowded housing.

“We know people from ethnic minority backgrounds are over-represented among both of these groups.

“For low-income ethnic minority families, private testing is likely to be unaffordable, leaving them unable to protect themselves and loved ones.

“Similarly, for self-employed or zero-hours workers such as taxi drivers, security workers, shopkeepers and delivery drivers, the lack of financial support for self-isolation is likely to worryingly lead to them having to choose between staying at home or putting food on the table.”

Analysis by Eastern Eye suggests that about 92 per cent of south Asians have had their first Covid dose, while 83 per cent have had their second.

Only 52 per cent, or just over half, have had their third vaccination, meaning they are fully protected. The calculations are based on NHS England figures and that there are an estimated 3.5 million south Asians aged 18 or above.

The percentages may be lower if the figures now include children aged between 12 and 18.

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