People who test negative after a PCR test but have Covid-19 symptoms are being urged to self isolate as what has been dubbed the 'worst cold ever' sweeps through the UK
GPs in the South West are seeing "a stream of patients" who had received positive lateral flow tests, but subsequently received negative PCR results, reports the BBC.
It comes as an illness, described by some as the 'worst lurgy ever' , continues to spread across more parts of the UK - with reports that many in the North West, including Merseyside, are now coming down with something similar.
And Dr Philippa Kaye, a GP based in London, said that numbers have already been as high as you'd see in a normal winter, reports The Mirror
The UK Health Security Agency's chief medical advisor, Susan Hopkins, confirmed that the agency "have been made aware of some areas reporting positive Lateral Flow Test test results with subsequent negative PCR tests".
She said the UKHSA was "looking into the cause" adding it was it was vital to read and follow test kit instructions, to avoid any incorrect readings.
Dr Lucy Pocock, a GP from Cadbury Heath Healthcare in south Gloucestershire, told the BBC: "Myself and my colleagues have seen a stream of patients with what we would consider very typical Covid symptoms.
"Several of these patients have done multiple lateral flow tests, all positive, and have then rightly gone on to do a PCR test, which has come back negative.
"The worrying thing here is that these people are all clearly symptomatic and with a very unexpected negative PCR result."
Becky Reynolds, director of public health for Bath and North East Somerset Council, said the council was aware of the situation.
She told the BBC: "It is confusing... I think we just need to bear with it while the investigation happens,"
"The advice is also to think about your local situation, do an individual risk assessment... so what is the likelihood that even though the PCR is negative, that you may still have Covid?
"If thinking it through there is quite a chance you have Covid, even if the PCR is coming back negative, then regard it as Covid and self-isolate."
University of Bath professor it Yates, from the Independent Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, has called for the situation to be looked into "seriously and rapidly".
"Public health England have suggested informally that you should still self isolate even if you get a negative PCR test, especially if you have symptoms, although that isn't the government guidance.
"The problem with that is that if you don't have a positive PCR test, then you can't access the support for isolation that you might need.
"So telling people to self-isolate, even if they get a negative PCR test, might not actually be that practical for many people."
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