Covid testing scaled back further in England

Covid testing is being scaled back even further in England from April.

It is part of the "living with Covid" approach that relies on vaccines to keep people safe.

Most staff and patients in hospitals and care homes will no longer be given swab tests, even if they have symptoms.

Some will though, such as staff working with severely immunocompromised patients or if there is an outbreak on a ward or in a hospice or prison, for example.

The long-running Office for National Statistics Covid infection survey that estimated how many people in the community had the virus each week - based on nose and throat swabs from volunteers - has already come to an end.

The final one suggested 1.7 million people - about one out of every 35 (2.7%) - had Covid in the week ending 13 March, a14% rise on the previous week.

But the UK Health Security Agency says thanks to the continuing success of the vaccination programme, testing in England can now become more like the approach used for other common respiratory infections such as flu.

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Source: BBC News, 30 March 2023