Recommendation 15

In December 2020, the Department announced that it would roll out mass Lateral Flow Device (LFD) testing for schools and colleges in the New Year, building on its earlier use at universities.51 LFD tests give results within 20–30 minutes, compared with the standard PCR swab tests, which must be sent to a laboratory for processing. NHST&T confirmed it was also rolling out LFD tests for key workers, such as in care homes or food processing plants, and for community testing, for people without COVID-19 symptoms.52 To support the roll-out of mass testing, as well as the continued increase in testing capacity, the government allocated a further £7 billion to NHST&T in November in addition to the £3 billion already made available for mass testing for 2020–21.53 The Department informed us that it had already purchased and taken delivery of 384 million LFD test kits, with a further 239 million to be delivered in February. It was in the process of tendering for up to a further 200 million LFD tests by early March.54