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Shameless stockpilers have been showing off their ‘towers’ of NHS lateral flow packs after a rush for free swabs when it was revealed each test will cost between £3 and £5 each from April 1.
The Government website ran out last night with packs still unavailable online and via the 119 phone line this morning after Boris Johnson said they would be phased out in six weeks.
People who opt to keep testing face spending £20 to £25 for a box of seven — around £3 to £5 per test, MailOnline understands. Yesterday the Government already started secretly rationing, limiting orders to one pack in 72 hours rather than every 24 hours.
And extraordinary pictures show the lengths that some Britons have gone to stockpile packs, proudly sharing pictures of mounds of tests that are costing the taxpayer £2billion per month.
One person, who has stockpiled more than 25 packs, tweeted: ‘When the Government wants to start charging for lateral flow tests. I’ve come fully prepared so I don’t run out of covid tests’.
English dramatist and academic Dan Rebellato tweeted a picture of his own ‘absurd tower’ of tests in his office. He said: ‘Both of us working in education, we test very regularly – to protect ourselves and our students. I knew they’d scrap the free testing so have been ordering test packs whenever I remember’.
Some have even suggested they could choose to sell them online from April – while people in Wales and Scotland, where tests are expected to remain free, are offering to stockpile them there and post them to friends in England.
One person tweeted: ‘If people order a load of free lateral flow tests now, then once it’s April 1st they can sell them cheaper than the government, at least the money won’t be going to them’. Another wrote: ‘Gonna start stocking up on lateral flow tests to take back to my family asap. very glad testing and isolation rules are staying the same in Wales at the moment’.
Stockpilers shared pictures of their towers of free NHS lateral flow tests that cost £2billion a month and are being phased out from April 1
This mother shared a picture of ten packs piled up, suggesting she needed them for her six-month old child
People trying to order packs last night and this morning in England were told they had run out already
Hours after it was revealed that free LFTs will be phased out in England, a rush of orders led to them running out online.
One person tweeted: ‘I’m unable to get any lateral flow tests delivered to my home. My local pharmacy doesn’t have any available for me to collect. I have no tests left. I work with the most vulnerable people in society. What do I do now if I have the mildest symptoms?’
Another critic said: ‘Why if you can get free lateral flow tests until April have I just wasted time trying to order some to be told you have no slots ! It’s ridiculous’.
As part of his ‘living with Covid’ blueprint, the Prime Minister announced last night he will scrap ‘free’ lateral flow tests within weeks.
Britons can currently pick up the tests in pharmacies or order them through the Government’s website at no cost. But the scheme costs No10 £2billion per month.
Previously people worrying they had Covid were able to put an order in every 24 hours for a set. But now the Government portal says they can only be ordered once every three days.
Mathematical biologist Dr Kit Yates wrote online: ‘It’s started. You used to be able to order a pack of lateral flow tests every 24 hours. That has now gone up to every 72 hours.’
Another added: ‘Looks like the Lateral Flow Tests system has already changed ahead of PM’s announcements today.’
A Londoner said: ‘I’ve been ordering a pack every 24 hours (ish) for the last week to stock up in light of the rumours of there being a charge.
‘I want to be able to test before seeing anyone vulnerable. I’m sure it was still 24 hours earlier this morning.’
Over-80s and the most vulnerable will still be offered free Covid tests after they are scrapped nationwide, it was claimed today.
Boris Johnson unveiled his ‘living with Covid’ strategy yesterday.
He said England would become one of the first countries in the world to emerge ‘from the teeth of the pandemic’, adding: ‘After two of the darkest, grimmest years in our peacetime history, I believe this is a moment of pride for our nation and a source of hope for all that we can achieve in the years to come.
‘The sun is shining but we’re keeping our umbrella.’
Confirmation that all Covid restrictions will end was cheered by Tory MPs, with even some of the PM’s critics praising the move.
Before and after: The rules used to allow a test every 24 hours but it is now every 72 hours
Some Twitter users posted about stockpiling to try and make sure they could be tested
Free testing is incredibly expensive and looks to be phased out for most people in the UK
Former Cabinet minister David Davis said the announcement ‘could well be the beginning of the end – the end of daily curbs on our personal freedoms’.
But Mr Johnson refused to offer any guarantees that lockdowns could be avoided in the future if a serious new variant emerged, saying only that vaccines and medication would form the ‘first line of defence’.
The biggest single change will see an end to disruptive self-isolation rules, with the PM saying it was time to start ‘protecting ourselves without losing our liberties’.
As part of his long-awaited strategy for ‘living with Covid’, Mr Johnson said free universal testing will be scrapped in April. He told MPs that it was time to ‘move from government restrictions to personal responsibility’.
Until the end of March, anyone who receives a positive Covid test will still be advised to stay at home for at least five days – but they will no longer be obliged to do it under the law.
Routine contact tracing will end on Thursday, as will the £500 self-isolation payments and the legal obligation for individuals to tell their employers about their requirement to isolate.
NHS England data shows the number of Covid-infected people occupying critical care beds. Just 346 people infected with the virus were in critical care beds on February 15, the most recent data figures are available for. The number has dropped 18 per cent in a week and nearly a third of the 996 in intensive care beds on December 31 at the winter peak. The figure is also around 12-times lower than the spike last winter, when more than 4,000 patients across England were in critical care beds on a single day
The graph shows the rolling Covid case rate across the UK’s four nations, which have been trending downwards since the Omicron peak in January
Changes to statutory sick pay and employment support allowances will end on March 24. It means people will have to wait for four days before they can claim statutory sick pay, rather than straight away as at present.
Free universal testing – which costs £16 billion a year – will be massively scaled back from April 1 and will instead be focused on the most vulnerable. Free symptomatic testing for social care staff will continue. And although fewer tests will be taking place, ministers will keep labs in readiness to boost their capacity if cases start to rise.
The Government expects a market for lateral flow devices to develop once boxes are no longer available free on the NHS, with individual tests expected to cost a few pounds.
It is believed they will be much cheaper than the tests people have had to pay for before going on holiday.
To prevent people stockpiling them before April 1, individuals will be able to order a box of tests on the NHS only every three days instead of one every 24 hours.
CBI policy director Matthew Fell welcomed the plan as a ‘significant step towards normality returning’ and said it could prove to be a ‘springboard for confidence, providing firms the certainty they need to invest and grow’.
But he said business would need further guidance on issues such as sick pay and employer liability to avoid a ‘legal vacuum’.
TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said the decision to end day-one sick pay would create ‘needless hardship and take a sledgehammer to public health’.
Labour opposed the end of free testing, with Sir Keir Starmer saying it was like ‘taking off your best defender’ during a close football match.
Boris Johnson is planning to wind down the Covid testing drive. Pictured above is a mobile testing unit in Windsor in early February
How much do Covid tests REALLY cost? UK gears up for £3 swabs from April 1 – but lateral flows can be three times cheaper in French supermarkets… and the kits themselves can cost just PENNIES to make
Britons will face paying £3 per lateral flow test from April, despite French supermarkets offering them for three-times cheaper.
As part of his ‘living with Covid’ blueprint, the Prime Minister announced he will scrap ‘free’ lateral flow tests within weeks.
Britons can currently pick up the tests in pharmacies or order them through the Government’s website at no cost. But the scheme costs No10 £2billion per month.
People who opt to keep testing face spending £20 for a box of seven — around £3 per test, MailOnline understands.
But in France, people can pick up tests at a third of the price, for as little as £1, while in Germany they can cost just £1.80 and Spain’s Government has capped them at roughly £2.45.
However, the tests – which experts say can cost just pennies to make – are not as cheap everywhere, with Americans paying $10 (£7.35).
As part of his ‘living with Covid’ blueprint, the Prime Minister announced he will scrap ‘free’ lateral flow tests within weeks.
In France, people can pick up tests at a third of the UK price (around £3), for as little as £1, while in Germany they can cost just £1.80 and Spain’s Government has capped them at roughly £2.45. However, the tests – which experts say can cost just pennies to make – are not as cheap everywhere, with Americans paying $10 (£7.35)
The Government said testing has been a ‘crucial’ part of its Covid response and more than 2billion kits have been dished out since 2020.
But lateral flow and PCR tests will no longer be available to the general public for free. However, at-risk groups and social care staff will be able to take a test for free if they have symptoms.
No10 said with the less severe Omicron being dominant and high levels of immunity across the country, ‘the value for taxpayers’ money is now less clear’.
Britons can currently buy the tests for £12.99 at some retailers.
But in France, the tests are easily accessible for €3 (£2.50), but can be bought for as little as €1.24 (£1) at retailer E.Leclerc.
People in Germany can pay just €2.20 (£1.80) per test at Lidl when buying a multipack of five tests, according to Spanish newspaper El Pais.
Meanwhile, the Spanish Government brought in a price cap of €2.94 (£2.45) per test.
The European countries also offer free tests.
The exact cost of making the test varies, but some researchers say it is just five pence. But Mologic, one of the largest British testmakers, said the tests can cost $2 (£1.47) to make.
Dr Alexander Edwards, an associate professor in biomedical technology at Reading University, told MailOnline: ‘Lateral flow tests are really cheap to manufacture, what costs is making high quality tests, and following all the regulatory requirements.
‘So there is no reason why tests should cost more in UK than elsewhere in Europe, but tests can vary in quality, so it’s possible that the really cheap products are less reliable.
‘Remember also that the UK hasn’t been an attractive market for suppliers because the free government tests make it unpredictable if or when you can ever sell any here.
‘So it may take a while for things to even out. As practical advice, I’d suggest to people there really is no need to test all the time- save tests for when they are really important.’
Professor Lawrence Young, a microbiologist from the University of Warwick, told MailOnline removing access to free tests ‘will mean that we won’t know who is infected and how the virus is spreading’.
He added: ‘For those on low incomes who may be less inclined to test because of difficulties with being supported to self-isolate, this will mean ignoring symptoms with the inevitable consequence of spreading infection – including to those who are more vulnerable.’
Ministers have never confirmed the exact details of their deals to buy lateral flow tests from manufacturers such as Innova.
But last winter it was revealed that No10 had paid around £800million in return for roughly 380million swabs from the California-based firm.
That suggests the Government was paying in the region of £2.10 per test but slightly more expensive estimates have also been touted.
It comes as the UK’s online portal to apply for seven lateral flow tests was quietly changed this morning to restrict how many could be ordered.
Previously people worrying they had Covid were able to put an order in every 24 hours for a set.
But now the Government portal says they can only be ordered once every three days.
There were no announcements about this change but it was implemented ahead of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s expected announcement that all restrictions will be lifted.
