Pass ‘can’t accept welsh tests’

WELSH Health Minister Eluned Morgan has told a Tory MP that the NHS Wales Covid pass is currently unable to accept as evidence Covid-19 tests that have been processed in Welsh laboratories.

David Davies, the Welsh Conservative MP for Monmouth, said he found it “absolutely extraordinary” that only tests processed in laboratories in England were acceptable.

Mr Davies, himself a UK Government Minister at the Wales Office, raised the issue with Baroness Morgan after being contacted by a constituent who had been vaccinated in Northern Ireland and was finding it difficult to get a Covid Pass in Wales.

Subsequently, the MP asked for further information about how the system was operating.

In a letter sent earlier this week to Mr Davies, Baroness Morgan initially thanked him for sharing his “constituent’s concerns regarding the NHS Covid Pass”.

She added: “The NHS Covid Pass, in Wales, presents evidence of vaccination as well as test results and natural immunity for those tests undertaken in NHS

England laboratories (my officials are currently working with stakeholders to include tests undertaken in NHS Wales laboratories).

“For individuals whose test results do not yet appear on the pass, they will be able to present evidence via text or email and this [will] enable them to access events and venues. The pass can be used for domestic and international travel purposes.”

Asked why there was a problem with tests processed at laboratories in Wales, a Welsh Government spokeswoman issued a statement which said: “As well as using the NHS Covid Pass to show they have had both vaccines, people in Wales can provide evidence of a negative lateral flow test to get into venues.

“The NHS Covid Pass is delivered via a UK Government system and is not yet set-up to receive test results from NHS Wales labs. That is why we give the option for people to provide their own evidence of a negative lateral flow test result.”

The spokeswoman said the majority of PCR tests for the public in Wales were processed via labs under the UK Testing Programme.