According to the BBC, the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has suggested that quick coronavirus testing could enable venues such as nightclubs and theatres to reopen.
Venues such as nightclubs and theatres have not been able to operate properly, if at all, since back in March 2020 with the first Covid-19 lockdown.
In a Downing Street news conference he added that rapid lateral flow tests could be used by “those parts of the economy we couldn’t get open last year” and that the tests “in combination with vaccination, will probably be the route forward,” although it was “still early days”, with “lots of discussions still to be had”.
Nadhim Zahawi, the vaccines minister, said that the government favoured testing over vaccine passports as a means to reopen the economy, since it is not yet clear whether a vaccinated individual can transmit the virus.
The boss of the Night Time Industries Association, Michael Kill, told the BBC that professionals would be required to administer swab tests outside the nightclub venues, and that clubbers would need to wait for at least 15 minutes after their test to get a negative result before being allowed in. This process would force venues to stagger their admissions and have procedures in place to deal with potential positive cases and any people who they came into contact with.
Lateral flow tests work by wiping a nose and throat swab in a solution and then dropping that fluid onto a plastic stick. They have the major advantage of not needing to be taken to a lab to be processed, unlike the more expensive PCR tests used by NHS Test & Trace.
According to the BBC, during a testing pilot in Liverpool, lateral flow devices picked up two-thirds of the most infectious cases, making them the best type of test to use in a mass testing initiative.
Mass testing for Covid-19 is crucial at this time as it is designed to identify individuals with active infection but who are asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic, as early detection and self-isolation can prevent spread on site and subsequent closures. Regular testing of individuals carried out by professional clinicians is cost efficient, quick and keeps your organisation operational.
Test Assurance Group offer bespoke, on-site mass community testing solutions. To learn more about our services or for a no-obligation quote based on a tailored approach that works for your business, contact us today;
visit www.testassurancegroup.com
call +44 (0)330 124 4371
email enquiries@testassurancegroup.com
follow us on Twitter @TestAssurance, Linked In @Test Assurance Group and Facebook @Test Assurance Group
Importance of Testing as New Symptoms of Covid-19 Identified
