Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Most free testing will end on 1 April. 

There are three reasons for testing: for surveillance (to monitor the virus); for clinical pathways (to guide treatment); and to control spread, as and when the surveillance shows we need to. As we go back to normal life transmission risk increases but fortunately, we have high vaccine protection amongst the general public and the option to deploy contingent capabilities at pace, if required. 

Going back to normal life means testing will be scaled back in line with the reduced risk from COVID-19. 

From 1 April, the universal symptomatic testing offer in England will end. Free symptomatic testing will continue only for certain groups. These are: 

• patients in hospital, for whom a test is required for clinical management or to support treatment pathways; 
• individuals whose immune system means they are at higher risk of serious illness from COVID-19, who are eligible for antiviral medication or other treatments. People in this group will be contacted directly and automatically be sent tests for use when they have COVID-19 symptoms; we previously ran a priority Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) service for this group which will change to a lateral flow test-service.
• individuals who live or work in high-risk settings, for example staff and residents of care homes, hospitals and hospices, NHS services and prisons and places of detention, as they work or live-in settings where infection needs to be identified quickly to minimise outbreaks.

Symptomatic testing will continue to be provided to: 

• NHS patients who require testing as part of established clinical pathways or those eligible for COVID-19 treatments
• NHS staff and staff in NHS-funded Independent Healthcare Provision
• Staff and residents in Adult Social Care services and Hospices
• Staff and detainees in Prisons and other Places of Detention

During periods of higher prevalence, asymptomatic testing will continue to be available to: 

• Staff in Adult Social Care Services and Hospices 
• Patient-facing staff in the NHS and NHS-funded Independent Healthcare Provision
• Elective care patients prior to admission
• Some staff in Prisons and other Places of Detention (including Immigration Removal Centres)
• SEND residential schools only when advised by Local Health Protection teams as part of an outbreak response.
• Asymptomatic testing will also be available year-round for outbreaks in high-risk settings and for both discharge to and admissions to Adult Social Care services and Hospices.

Find out more via the Government's covid-19 testing page.

There is no longer a legal requirement to self-isolate.  From 1 April, those with symptoms who have a high temperature or do not feel well enough to go to work or carry out normal activities will be advised to: 

• Try to stay at home, avoid contact with other people and try not to attend work;
• avoid close contact with anyone who they know is at higher risk of becoming seriously unwell if infected with COVID-19 and other respiratory infections; and,
• resume normal activities once they feel well enough to do so and no longer have a high temperature if they had one. 

Symptomatic testing:

Free tests for people who have COVID-19 symptoms will continue to be provided to the following groups, largely via the existing channels:

• NHS patients in hospital, who will be tested via the established NHS testing programme
• those eligible for COVID-19 antiviral and other treatments, who will be sent a pack of tests and can request replacements if they need them
• NHS staff and staff working in NHS-funded independent healthcare provision – the current lateral flow test ordering portal will remain available for this group to order their own tests
• adult social care staff in care homes, homecare organisations, extra care and supported living settings and adult day care centres, as well as residents in care homes and extra care and supported living settings via the established organisation ordering portal
• adult social care social workers, personal assistants, Shared Lives carers and CQC inspectors will be able to order tests from the current online lateral flow ordering system
• staff and patients in hospices will be supplied tests by the hospice
• staff and detainees in prisons and other places of detention will be supplied tests by the detention premises as currently happens
• staff and detainees in immigration removal centres will be supplied tests, as currently happens, by the organisation concerned
• staff and users of high-risk domestic abuse refuges and homelessness settings

Asymptomatic testing:

Free tests for people who have COVID-19 symptoms will continue to be provided to the following groups, largely via the existing channels:

• NHS patients in hospital, who will be tested via the established NHS testing programme
• those eligible for COVID-19 antiviral and other treatments, who will be sent a pack of tests and can request replacements if they need them
• NHS staff and staff working in NHS-funded independent healthcare provision – the current lateral flow test ordering portal will remain available for this group to order their own tests
• adult social care staff in care homes, homecare organisations, extra care and supported living settings and adult day care centres, as well as residents in care homes and extra care and supported living settings via the established organisation ordering portal
• adult social care social workers, personal assistants, Shared Lives carers and CQC inspectors will be able to order tests from the current online lateral flow ordering system
• staff and patients in hospices will be supplied tests by the hospice
• staff and detainees in prisons and other places of detention will be supplied tests by by the detention premises as currently happens
• staff and detainees in immigration removal centres will be supplied tests, as currently happens, by the organisation concerned
• staff and users of high-risk domestic abuse refuges and homelessness settings

Visitors to high-risk settings

Most visitors to adult social care settings, the NHS, hospices, prisons or places of detention will no longer require a test. Tests will continue to be provided to a small number of visitors to care homes and hospices who will be providing personal care.

Visits by people with symptoms may still be allowed in exceptional circumstances, such as end of life visits. Please contact someone responsible at the setting prior to visiting in these circumstances.

If you wish to test yourself, lateral flow tests will continue to be available to buy from pharmacies and supermarkets, including online.

It is vital that everyone continues to follow the simple steps to keep themselves and others safe.

The success of the COVID-19 vaccination and booster rollout, and the availability of antivirals, has meant that there is a much lower risk of severe illness or hospitalisation. 

In the general population, and particularly in those at highest risk of serious illness or death, we have reached a stage of high levels of both natural and vaccine induced immunity leading to relatively mild disease in most people and some protection against long covid. For those unable to mount a full immune response, testing pathways to evidence based effective COVID-19 treatments are available and will be retained. 

UKHSA has maintained a range of contingency arrangements that would be deployed in the event of a dangerous variant of concern. Guidance on safer behaviours and other measures would be revisited where necessary.  

No, we all still need to behave cautiously. As behaviours return to normal transmission is very likely to increase. 

The success of the COVID-19 vaccination and booster rollout, and the availability of antivirals, has meant that there is a much lower risk of severe illness or hospitalisation. 

New guidance will advise how we can all live safely with COVID-19, and sensible measures for anyone with symptoms to avoid spreading to family, colleagues, or others, as they would if they contracted any other infectious disease.