BRITAIN TO OFFER FREE, AT-HOME TESTING
The British government announced Monday that it will offer every citizen in England two at-home rapid coronavirus tests a week, in a costly bid to reopen the economy while avoiding another wave of infections.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is betting that ongoing, repeated testing for as many people as possible — including those who feel fine — will help break transmission chains, limit future outbreaks, and get people back to work, sporting events, theaters and normal life.
The country’s fast-moving vaccination campaign has administered at least one dose to nearly half the population, but adults under 50 in England could still be waiting until May for their first jab, and scientists don’t yet know how easily vaccinated people can transmit the virus. So the ability to test and trace is still seen as critical to keeping the virus in check.
The prime minister promised the free, simple tests will help “to stop outbreaks in their tracks, so we can get back to seeing the people we love and doing the things we enjoy.”
But questions remain about who will take the tests. The United States has seen a dramatic decline in demand for testing, as the public instead looks to vaccines as the way to end the pandemic.
And if the self-administered tests show an infection, will people accurately report that to the government and then stay home? A recent review in the BMJ, a medical journal, found that only 42 percent of symptomatic Britons were following isolation rules.
Many in Britain are also concerned that Johnson’s mass testing will soon dovetail with a parallel effort to create “COVID status certificates,” or vaccine passports.
The certificates — which would likely appear on a mobile phone app — would show whether an individual has been vaccinated, recently tested negative for the virus, or has natural immunity due to previous infection within the past six months. These data would come from the public health service and self-reporting.
The government said Monday that the certificates could be useful for mass gatherings, and it will begin experimenting with them for attendance at an upcoming comedy festival and a few sporting events. Johnson dismissed the idea that they would be needed to enter a shop or pub garden.