Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced that free universal Covid testing will come to an end in England from April.
As part of this, from Friday April 1, free universal testing including both LFT and PCR for anyone with or without symptoms will end for the general public in England.
This could have a substantial knock on affect for Wales because the UK Government has said no extra money will be given to the Welsh Government to continue providing free testing.
The Welsh Government called the decision "premature and reckless" adding that "It is clearly essential that this continues" and that "any decision to effectively turn off the tap on our National Testing Programme with no future plans in place to reactivate it".
WalesOnline has conducted an in-depth analysis of the impact that stopping free testing would have on the pandemic in Wales which you can read here.
But what will Covid tests cost if the free provision is removed?
Analysis by the Guardian found that the cost of lateral flows varies significantly depending on where you are in the world.
Self-administered tests in France cost between €4 and €5 in pharmacies and about €1.25 in supermarket multipacks which is cheaper than neighbouring Belgium where the price of an antigen self-test sold in pharmacies is around €6-€8 (£5-£7). Contrast this to Thailand where the government has started selling antigen tests for 35 baht (79p).
WalesOnline understands that UK Government hopes the price in the UK to retail at around £20 for a box of six which will work out at about £3 a test.
Regarding PCR tests these are likely to be far more expensive with some European countries seeing about £40 for a test (though many still off it free for people with symptoms). Currently in the UK you can order private PCR tests online for about £60.
It is understood that in England, symptomatic testing will be available at much lower levels for only the most vulnerable, the precise groupings that will be decided by UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) but will likely be targeted towards the very oldest and immunosuppressed. There will continue to be diagnostic PCR testing for people in the NHS on wards.
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