UK: Testing Approach Comes To Effect From April 2023

In the United Kingdom, changes to coronavirus (COVID-19) testing will come into effect on 1 April 2023, to ensure testing continues to focus on those at highest risk, enables appropriate clinical treatment and supports the management of outbreaks in high-risk settings including health and social care.

The changes from April 2023 come over a year after the nation began the transition to living with COVID-19. Throughout the pandemic the government has prioritised protecting the most vulnerable and over the past year, COVID-19 testing has gradually been scaled back as the severity and impact of COVID-19 on the NHS reduced.

Testing in England can now be further aligned with the management of other common respiratory infections thanks to the ongoing success of the vaccination programme, increased access to therapeutic treatments and high immunity amongst the population.

Lateral flow devices (LFDs) have proven to be effective, rapid and safe. They are increasingly being used within the NHS instead of PCR testing. These tests are regularly monitored against new variants and continue to be effective at detecting COVID-19.

The changes will be set out in detail in guidance for those working in NHS, social care and high-risk settings.

PCR testing will continue to be used by the NHS for diagnosis were needed for patients before accessing COVID-19 treatment or for specific personal clinically directed care.

Capacity will also be retained to ensure testing can be scaled up swiftly if a COVID-19 wave, or a new variant, results in significantly increased pressure on the NHS.

Fewer people now experience severe illness due to COVID-19, due to vaccinations, infection-related immunity and treatments for those who need them and the risk of hospitalisation has decreased overall. This means we are now able to further bring our testing programmes in line with management of other viral infections whilst still maintaining focus on those at highest risk to protect them from the virus.

COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses haven’t gone away and simple actions, like washing your hands and staying at home and avoiding vulnerable people when unwell, can make a big difference. For those at highest risk of severe illness, the spring booster programme also provides an opportunity to keep immunity topped up.

Health and Social Care Secretary, Steve Barclay said: Testing was crucial to our response during the height of the pandemic, and our successful vaccination programme has protected the most vulnerable, saved thousands of lives, and has helped us all to live with COVID-19.

Thankfully we are now able to scale back our testing programme while remaining committed to ensuring those at highest risk and more prone to severe illness get the protection they need.

Over the past year, the success of the vaccination programme, increased access to treatments and high immunity in the population have enabled the government to target its COVID-19 services, meaning the app is no longer needed. The knowledge, technology and lessons learnt from the app will be used to help inform our planning and response to future pandemic threats.