Self-testing at home to find out whether somebody has had Covid-19 is an efficient way to find out if they are safe to return to work, a senior health official has said.
Prof Yvonne Doyle, the medical director of Public Health England, told the health select committee that finger-prick home tests would be available very soon. “We expect that to come within a couple of weeks, but I wouldn’t want to promise on that,” she said.
It was “critical to understand what is going on and allow people to return to work” she said. Self-testing was not new and was well understood by the public, with routine tests available such as the pregnancy test. “The intention is to allow people to do as much of this as they validly can. It is by far the most efficient way, if the technology will support it,” she said.