Free Covid-19 testing ends in England on April 1 - and this means large walk-in testing centres like the one at Newcastle Great Park will close.
The Government announced that mass testing would end when it laid out its "Living With Covid" plan - and as the test centres are managed by the Department of Health and Social Care - that means they're set to close too. This will mean that the only way for most people to get a Covid test will be to buy a commercially available lateral flow test.
The walk-in and drive-in testing sites were set up in the months after the Covid-19 pandemic began and meant thousands of people each day could attend and get a Covid PCR test. But the Government's plan is to stop most testing and says we are in a position to do so due to "high levels of immunity" in the population and the success of Covid-19 vaccination.
Read more: Covid rates in Newcastle: Data shows BA.2 strain is hitting the city's middle-aged hardest
However, Covid-19 rates in the area remain high - with the Omicron sub-variant BA.2 still causing thousands of cases across the region. The end of the majority of Covid-19 testing has also meant t hat the Lighthouse Lab in Gateshead is closing this week - with 650 people now looking for new jobs.
What was announced and who can still get free tests ?
In February Boris Johnson unveiled the "Living With Covid" plan - and he said: "From the start of April, the government will end free symptomatic and asymptomatic testing for the general public.
"Limited symptomatic testing will be available for a small number of at-risk groups and we will set out further details on which groups will be eligible shortly. Free symptomatic testing will also remain available to social care staff. We are working with retailers to ensure that everyone who wants to can buy a test."
At this stage, detail of how vulnerable groups can access free testing has yet to be made available. The NHS Confederation has been pushing NHS England to set out how NHS staff will be able to access testing, but it is expected this will have to be be funded from existing budgets.
For everyone else, the only testing provision available will be to buy over-the-counter tests - shops such as Boots are set to sell them for less than £5.
What do you think of this decision? Have your say in the comments section below.
Why was this decision made?
The Government said high-levels of immunity in our population and progress with medical therapies had enabled it to ditch much of the country's Covid testing infrastructure. In it's announcement laying out the plan, it said: "Thanks to our hugely successful vaccination programme, the immunity built up in the population and our new antiviral and therapeutics tools, the UK is in the strongest possible position to learn how to live with Covid and end government regulation."
Last week Prof Eugene Milne, Newcastle City Council's outgoing Director of Public Health, had a cautious take, he said "rationally there was always going to come a point" where the Government was going to make this decision.
Prof Milne added: "And that was always going to be an incredibly difficult call to make. Whenever it was made there were always going to be some saying it was too soon and some saying it wasn't soon enough.
"We have to watch what happens. The things that really would worry me are if intensive care pressures continue to climb or a if a new variant develops. Those are the things that might make you think 'let's rethink'."
What to do if you feel unwell?
The official advice is now for people to exercise "personal responsibility" if they feel they might have Covid-19. Wearing masks if you have symptoms and following public health advice is key, the Government has said.
In the "Living With Covid" plan, the Government writes: "The public are encouraged to continue to follow public health advice, as with all infectious diseases such as the flu, to minimise the chance of catching Covid and help protect family and friends.
"This includes by letting fresh air in when meeting indoors, wearing a face covering in crowded and enclosed spaces where you come into contact with people you don’t normally meet, and washing your hands."
What happens to the sites themselves?
Local authorities have been told by the Department of Health and Social Care that testing sites would be removed from the end of March. In a statement online, North Tyneside Council said: "The Government will begin a rolling programme to remove the PCR testing sites across the country from the end of March."
It is understood that while testing services will cease immediately, the sites themselves won't necessarily disappear immediately.
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