Covid Pass ‘unable to accept Welsh lab tests’
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.
Those processed at laboratories in Wales tended to relate to NHS staff or hospital patients.
The spokeswoman added: “Covid Pass guidance for entry to events requires proof of full vaccinated status or a negative lateral flow test taken at least 48 hours before the event, which you report into a system yourself.
“PCR tests should not be used as proof of negative status for event attendance.”
When it was pointed out that self-certifying the results of lateral flow tests could lead to individuals cheating and falsely claiming they had tested negative, the spokeswoman said: “Falsifying lateral flow test results is an offence in Wales”, adding that the majority of people in Wales had respected the Covid rules and that they would be dissuaded from reporting results incorrectly.
Mr Davies said: “I find it absolutely extraordinary that the Covid Pass system cannot cope with tests that have been processed in laboratories run by NHS Wales.
“The sooner the Welsh Government has a system that can cope with vaccination and testing information covering people in all parts of the UK the better.
“Otherwise they should pause the tests until they can be sure the system is working properly.”