New £5 DIY Covid tests could see crowds returning to events and more!
New £5 DIY Covid tests could mean that large crowds are able to go to events once again! As well as music events this will also mean football matches, other sports events and many large gatherings such as busy pubs.
The tests work in a similar way to pregnancy tests and produce results in minutes. This will allow millions of people with a negative result to socialise.in the way we are used to!
Trials are taking place and the tests show a correct result for more than three quarters those taken, and many of these are the ones that are being missed. The accuracy of these tests is over 95% for those who are infectious.
Being quick and easy, experts believe that widespread use could slash Covid transmission by 90%. Government scientists say the findings pave the way for daily “freedom passes”.
To safely return to an event a negative result needs to be shown on the same day. Not only will this reduce the likelihood of further virus spreads it will also help with the personal feeling of being safe and healthy in a crowd.
Sir John Bell, a Professor of Medicine at Oxford University, said: “These inexpensive, easy to use tests can play a major role in our fight against Covid-19.
“They identify those who are likely to spread the disease and when used systematically in mass testing could reduce transmissions by 90 per cent.
“They will be detecting disease in large numbers of people who have never previously even received a test.”
At Prime Minister’s Questions in the Commons yesterday, a bullish Boris Johnson told MPs a possible vaccine and better testing means we have “two boxing gloves to pummel the disease” in the weeks ahead.
