Vaccine rollout has changed attitudes to rapid testing

Government-backed research will สล็อตดาวน์โหลด trial giving people daily lateral flow tests for seven days - instead of asking those who have been in contact with a person with Covid to quarantine for 10 days.

The UK regulator has always cautioned against the use of lateral flow tests in this way.

The concern is that they are not accurate enough, certainly not when used at home to correctly identify enough positive cases.

So while they were given the green light for mass testing - which they are currently being used for on the basis they would pick up some cases that would not have been identified previously - deploying them to allow close contacts to avoid isolation was deemed a step too far.

But the vaccination programme has changed the equation, by reducing the risk from Covid.

It means what is proportionate needs to be reassessed.

Asking people who come into close contact to isolate has a significant cost to that individual. Is that right when the risk of Covid is lower than it once was? And will people continue to isolate given the changing landscape?

Accepting some cases will slip through the net could be a price worth paying.

This trial will help understand what that price is.