Covid testing for patients in hospitals and care homes in England will be paused from the end of August, the Department for Health and Social Care has confirmed. Regular asymptomatic testing 'in all remaining settings' will be halted from Wednesday August 31, as coronavirus cases continue to fall.
Free testing for the public ended on April 1 as part of the government’s Living with Covid plan, but asymptomatic testing continued to be used in some settings during periods of high case rates. But testing will remain in place for admissions into care homes and hospices from both hospitals and the community, and for transfers for immunocompromised patients into and within hospital to protect those who are most vulnerable.
Testing will also be available for outbreaks in certain high-risk settings such as care homes. The vaccination programme means Covid cases have now fallen to 40,027 and the risk of transmission has reduced, says the government.
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Deaths have fallen to 744 and hospitalisations to 6,005 in the last seven days, meaning wider asymptomatic testing can soon end as planned in most instances. Symptomatic testing in high-risk settings will continue. Settings where asymptomatic testing of staff and patients or residents will be paused include:
- The NHS (including independent health care providers treating NHS patients);
- Adult social care and hospice services (apart from new admissions);
- Parts of the prison estate and some places of detention; and
- Certain domestic abuse refuges and homelessness settings.
Year-round symptomatic testing will continue to be provided in some settings, including:
- NHS patients who require testing as part of established clinical pathways or those eligible for Covid treatments;
- NHS staff and staff in NHS-funded independent healthcare provision;
- Staff in adult social care services and hospices and residents of care homes, extra care and supported living settings and hospices;
- Staff and detainees in prisons; and
- Staff and service users of certain domestic abuse refuges and homelessness services.
Individuals will continue to be protected through vaccination and access to antivirals where eligible, the Department for Health and Social Care says. Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay said: “Thanks to the success of our world-leading vaccination roll-out, we are able to continue living with Covid and, from 31 August, we will pause routine asymptomatic testing in most high-risk settings.
“This reflects the fact case rates have fallen and the risk of transmission has reduced, though we will continue to closely monitor the situation and work with sectors to resume testing should it be needed. Those being admitted into care homes will continue to be tested.
“Our upcoming autumn booster programme will offer jabs to protect those at greatest risk from severe Covid, and I urge everyone who is eligible to take up the offer.”
The government continues to encourage all who are eligible to take up booster jabs. Autumn boosters will be available to book through the National Booking Service ahead of the wider rollout, due to start on the 12 September.
The NHS will contact people when it is their turn. On 15 August, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) published its advice on which vaccines should be used in this year’s Autumn booster programme.
This includes the approval of new dual-strain vaccines as part of the programme, targeting both the original strain of the virus and the new, more prevalent Omicron strain..
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