A number of testing changes are set to be launched in Northern Ireland in April.
PCR testing will cease for most people with symptoms of coronavirus, while free lateral flow tests will still be available for public use if individuals develop symtpoms.
Lateral flow tests will also continue to be available free of charge to support those living in, working in or visiting a higher risk setting such as a care home until the end of June, with further review then.
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Announcing the news, Health Minister, Robin Swann, said: "The new policy reflects the new realities of the pandemic. While the prevalence of the virus remains at a high level, the risk of serious illness has been significantly reduced - thanks in no small measure to our vaccination programme and the use of innovative Covid-19 treatments.
"The risk posed by the virus at the present time does not justify testing and isolating large swathes of the population at the levels that we have seen to date in the past two years.
"Test and trace will continue to have a key role and will be used in a more focused and targeted way to support and protect our most vulnerable.
"This will be kept under very close review and we will have contingency plans in place so that we can scale up should it be required."
Changes to testing taking effect from April 22:
- PCR testing will no longer be recommended or available for most people with symptoms. It will still be available to support the small group for whom it is recommended for clinical reasons. The PCR home ordering service will remain available for the general public to support those for whom PCR is recommended.
- Publicly accessible Covid-19 testing sites will close. Local Health and Social Care Trusts will continue to provide PCR testing to support clinical care.
- Those with symptoms will be advised to use lateral flow devices (LFDs) to test instead of booking a PCR. This will be kept under review and could remain in place up to the end of June depending on disease trajectory.
- Routine asymptomatic testing (that is testing for those with no symptoms) will continue to be advised for those living, working and visiting health and social care settings including hospitals and care homes and other high risk settings in line with public health advice. This will be kept under review.
- Asymptomatic LFD testing for the wider population will cease.
- Access to free LFDs for this purpose will cease.
- Routine asymptomatic workplace testing will cease.
- Routine asymptomatic testing in most educational settings (including mainstream schools, early learning and childcare, universities and further education colleges) will cease at the Easter break.
- Asymptomatic testing in special schools will continue after Easter and will be kept under review. It may continue until the end of June 2022.
- Routine population contact tracing will be phased out between mid-April and the end of June.
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