The Welsh Government has indicated it will be unable to provide free Covid testing to everyone in the wake of the UK government's decision not to continue to fund it.
On Monday, February 21, Boris Johnson said free testing would end from April 1. You can read the whole timetable of the easing of restrictions in England, which will also see self isolation rules end, here.
Mr Johnson told the Commons: "While the pandemic is not over, we have passed the peak of the Omicron wave, with cases falling, and hospitalisations in England now fewer than 10,000 and still falling, and so now we have the chance to complete that transition back towards normality, while maintaining the contingencies to respond to a resurgence or a new variant."
In Mr Johnson's plan, only some groups will be able to access testing. The detail on that is expected in March however it is thought that it will be limited to the most vulnerable in terms of age and health.
The UK Government has confirmed it will not give Wales, or the other devolved nations, extra money if they want to continue with free testing. It will likely mean that if Wales wishes to continue offering free testing it will have to find the money from existing budgets, and taking it from elsewhere.
In a new statement issued on Tuesday, a Welsh Government spokesman said: "We have asked UK Government to clarify funding arrangements – they have so far failed to do so. We are working through the possible implications for Wales of yesterday’s announcement on the National Testing Programme. However it appears to seriously undermine our ability to carry out universal free testing."
Speaking after the Prime Minister's announcement, Wales' health minister Eluned Morgan said ministers in Wales were still waiting for the exact details of how much funding for testing there would be.
"The fact is, we don't know what the answer is in practice because they couldn't give us any clarity about how much and whether there will be additional funding to maintain testing within the UK," she said.
"So they're clearly not going to get rid of it entirely but the question then is how much will they keep and from what pot will they pay for that. I think they suggested that there may be around £3bn but we're not clear about whether that's over and above what's already been given to the NHS or whether that will be additional."
Asked if the UK Government's decision to end self isolation payments, and testing will force Welsh Government hands to do the same, because they don't have the funding, she replied: "We would then be in a situation where we would have to determine what our priority is in relation to health spending in Wales. We have kept some money and we have budgeted to an extent for testing but clearly, if they are ramping down that testing in England, then there will be knock on effects for us if there's no additional financing."
Wales is dependant on the UK Government for tests, but also funding.
On the Radio 4 on Tuesday morning, UK health secretary Sajid Javid was asked what it would mean for devolved nations.
He said: "With Scotland, and any other part of the UK, what we've seen throughout this pandemic is strength in unity, whether with vaccines or testing or anti-virals how being one country, one United Kingdom has helped protect every citizen of our kingdom,
"If Scotland chooses to take a different route now when it comes to testing that, of course , is a decision for Scotland, health is a devolved matter."
When he was challenged as to whether extra funding would be made available if the devolved nations wanted to keep offering free testing or whether it would have to come from existing budgets, Mr Javid responded: "They would pay for it in the same way we pay for the decisions that we make in England, it's worth remembering because of the new health and social care levy Scotland is receiving hundreds of millions of extra funding from that, they're free to decide how to spend it."
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