COVID-19 Testing Slashed From April as UK Moves On
Over a year after shifting to living with COVID-19, the UK is drastically scaling back coronavirus testing from 1 April 2023. The government’s new plan focuses testing on the most vulnerable and supports outbreak control in high-risk settings like hospitals and care homes.
Routine Testing Axed in Most Settings
The end of routine COVID testing hits these groups hard:
- Staff and patients in all health and social care settings – routine asymptomatic testing mostly paused since August 2022.
- Symptomatic staff and residents in care homes, prisons, homeless shelters, refuges, and asylum centres.
- All PCR tests outside NHS environments.
Who Still Gets Tested?
Testing won’t vanish completely. Lateral flow device (LFD) tests will stay for:
- People with symptoms in the community and high-risk care settings eligible for COVID treatments.
- Symptomatic NHS staff working with severely immunosuppressed patients.
- Staff with symptoms working in hospices.
- Patients being discharged from hospitals to care homes.
- Outbreak testing in care, NHS, prisons, and vulnerable population settings.
- Hospital patients with symptoms when necessary for decisions like ward transfers.
PCR tests remain for clinical diagnosis before treatment or specific care needs. Testing capacity stays on standby to ramp up if new waves or variants hit the NHS hard again.
Experts Back the Shift
Dame Jenny Harries, UKHSA Chief Executive: “Fewer people now get severe COVID thanks to vaccines, immunity, and treatments. We can align COVID testing with other respiratory infections while protecting the most vulnerable. Simple actions like handwashing and staying home when sick still matter. The spring booster keeps immunity strong.”
Health Secretary Steve Barclay: “Testing was vital during the pandemic, and vaccines saved thousands of lives. Now we can safely scale back testing, still protecting those most at risk.”
NHS COVID App Shutting Down
The NHS COVID-19 app, which alerted people of exposure and gave up-to-date advice, will close on 27 April 2023. The app is credited with preventing around 1 million infections, 44,000 hospitalisations, and nearly 10,000 deaths in its first year. With high vaccination rates and strong immunity, the government says the app is no longer needed but will inform future pandemic planning.
