Home testing failure worry

HOME testing for Covid-19 could cause 20,000 false positives a week, a top scientist has warned.

Professor Christina Pagel of the Independent SAGE group said the figure was likely if 20 million people use the lateral flow kits.

And she added that without incentives, people may ignore the tests and the scheme could fail.

She said: “People showing no symptoms will not participate.”

The Government wants everyone to take two lateral flow home tests a week, and anyone with a positive result is urged to isolate and get a more accurate PCR test.