A health expert has shared his expertise in how people make three easy mistakes when administering a lateral flow test from home, and helped those who may be doing the tests wrong.
As reported by the Mirror, millions of lateral flow tests are taken daily as the people of Scotland try to reduce the transmission of Covid and the new Omicron variant across the country.
Doctor Nathan, who lives in London, has said that people could be testing for Covid incorrectly, and may not know they are positive for the virus.
You can find all of the latest from Sturgeon's announcement on our LIVE blog here.
The doctor noted that “Any positive line within 30 minutes, even if it is so faint that it is barely visible, equals a positive result.
“However, if a faint line appears after 30 minutes, this can be ignored.”
He added: “Don’t forget to avoid eating or drinking for at least 30 minutes before, to blow your nose and to wash your hands!”
Dr Nathan has said that the three most common mistakes when conducting a lateral flow test are: failing to spot positives, not reading the instructions and mixing up the best way to conduct the test.
He added: "You should always follow the enclosed instructions.
“If the test advises doing a throat and nose swab, do this. If it advises a nose swab only, do this.
“That being said, there are some anecdotal reports of people getting a positive throat swab and a negative nose swab, and later developing symptoms and a positive PCR.”
Dr Nathan shared this advice on his personal Instagram account, @expedition_doctor, in order to prevent any more people carrying out LFT's incorrectly.
This news comes as the First Minister has slammed the potential UK decision to end lateral flow testing in the plan to 'live with Covid' which the Prime Minister is reportedly set to announce in weeks.
Nicola Sturgeon took to Twitter to criticise the decision that was reported on by The Times which stated that Lateral Flow tests currently used to confirm the Covid diagnosis would be phased out in the Prime Minister's "Live with Covid plan."
The article reported that the action plan could mean free tests would only be provided in high-risk settings such as care homes, hospitals and schools, and to people with symptoms.
Nicola Sturgeon said: "If UK government is really considering this (the Scottish Government has certainly not signed up to it)
"It is utterly wrongheaded. Hard to imagine much that would be less helpful to trying to ‘live with’ Covid.'"
More than £6 billion of public money has been spent so far on mass testing using the devices.
Earlier on in January, the Scottish Government announced that a PCR test would no longer be required if you receive a positive lateral flow test result.
The tests are used across the country due to the ability to do the tests at home and the speed of the results.
There are currently no plans to phase out the lateral flow devices in Scotland.
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