The head of the UK Health Security Agency raised concerns about low-paid workers being disadvantaged by changes to the Covid testing regime in England, as they would still need a PCR test to access financial support for isolation, a leaked internal memo shows.
The memo from Dame Jenny Harries, the chief executive of the UKHSA, also highlighted a greater risk of false negatives for those on lower incomes forced to go to a testing centre to ensure they received the 500 Covid test-and-trace support payments.
Under the changes made this week, most people who are asymptomatic can rely on positive lateral flow results to self-isolate, without having to take a confirmatory PCR test. But those seeking 500 Covid support payments for isolation will still need to get PCR tests because of government concerns about potential fraudulent claims if people are allowed to claim the support payments based on self-reported lateral flows.
In the note written before Christmas, Harries flagged concerns that low-paid workers seeking access to financial support payments would have a higher chance of falsely being told they were negative for Covid.
Harries wrote: “In higher prevalence periods, the abandonment of confirmatory PCR would mean that the people most likely to receive a false negative and therefore potentially become ill and then seek hospital care later and therefore more likely to die would be more likely to be those from lower socioeconomic groups who also have higher risk of...
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