A rapid COVID-19 test could finally allow Britons to go back into attending concerts and sports events. The said COVID-19 test would cost just £5 each.
Rapid test
The government is reportedly set to purchase 200 million of the test, which gives a "yes" or "no" results in 15 minutes.
A negative test result would allow millions of people the freedom to socialize and go back to normal. Experts say that this could be the key to moving away from the strict restrictions brought by the pandemic, according to Forbes.
People who test negative could also receive a day pass to go to the cinema, theatre, or a sports event. Scientists have found that the test can detect around three in four positive cases of coronavirus.
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The accuracy goes up 95 percent when dealing with people who have a high viral load, which makes people most infectious. It also drops sharply when people have low levels of the virus in their bodies.
Scientists have called for the public to be given lessons on how to administer the test correctly. There are also plans to purchase more than 60 million rapid tests every month starting January 2021, according to The Daily Telegraph. By March 2021, around 192 million will be reportedly purchased.
The tests are one of those at the heart of the Operation Moonshot pilot and could see the kits used in towns and in cities across the United Kingdom to help the government be on top of the pandemic by the spring.
Public Health England and the University of Oxford have evaluated at least 40 lateral flow tests, same as the ones that are being used in Liverpool, which are like pregnancy tests in a way that it gives a yes or no result for COVID-19 within minutes.
Also, it appears that the tests could be used on 10 percent of the population who are considered high risk. It has also been announced that 67 towns and cities will be given at least 600,000 tests, according to Sky News.
Sir John Bell from Oxford said that the kits are inexpensive and easy to use. They can also play a major role in the country's fight against the pandemic.
The kits can identify those who are likely to spread the virus, and when used systematically in mass testing, it could reduce the transmissions by 90 percent.
The government ministers also announced that relatives of care home residents would be tested for the coronavirus so that they can finally visit their loved ones, especially since the holidays are coming up.
COVID-19 in the UK
Britain's official coronavirus death toll passed 50,000 as of November 11 after health chiefs announced another 595 victims in the highest daily count since May 2020.
U.K. Prime Minister Boris Jonson said that the figure was a reminder that the country still has a long way to go despite promising news about a vaccine earlier this week.
Officials also said that coronavirus fatalities would continue to increase for several weeks due to high infection rates this winter season.
The Prime Minister warned that the vaccine would not deliver an instant blow to the coronavirus, so the protocols such as social distancing, mask-wearing, and handwashing should still be implemented.
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