Chaos as public health boss tells Bath residents to self-isolate if they are experiencing Covid symptoms but have test NEGATIVE
- A public health boss has warned people with Covid-19 symptoms to self-isolate
- It comes after patients received negative PCR results but positive lateral flows
- PCR tests are far more accurate than lateral flows, which are available for free
- The anomalous test results were primarily reported in Bath, Bristol and Swindon
A public health boss has told people in the South of England to self-isolate if they have Covid-19 symptoms even if they have tested negative in confusing new advice months after the country was paralysed by the ‘pingdemic’.
It comes after several patients in Bath, Bristol and Swindon tested negative on a PCR test after a lateral flow test returned a positive result mystifying health experts.
PCR tests are far more accurate than lateral flow tests with only 2.8 per cent returning a false result, which are available free over the counter.
Becky Reynolds, director of public health for Bath and North East Somerset Council, said: ‘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.
‘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?’
A public health boss has warned people to self-isolate if they have Covid-19 symptoms even if they have tested negative after a string of patients received negative PCR results but positive lateral flows (pictured, a student takes a lateral flow test)
Cases in Bath and North East Somerset per 100,000 population over a seven-day period
What are the current self-isolation rules?
You must self-isolate if you develop Covid-19 symptoms including:
– a high temperature
– a new, continuous cough
– a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste
You should also self-isolate if:
– you’ve tested positive for Covid-19
– someone you live with has symptoms or tested positive
– you’ve been told to self-isolate following contact with someone who tested positive
The anomalous results were primarily reported in Bath, Bristol and Swindon, the UK Health Security Agency said, adding it was investigating the issue and that it did not appear technical issues had caused the problem.
Reynolds admitted to the BBC it was a ‘confusing’ situation for people but asked for patience while an investigation into the testing anomalies takes place.
An Independent Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) member has called for an investigation to be conducted ‘seriously and rapidly’.
Meanwhile chief medical advisor for the UK Health Security Agency, Susan Hopkins, urged people to make sure they read testing instructions to avoid incorrect readings.
Dr Lucy Pocock, a GP from Cadbury Heath Healthcare in south Gloucestershire, raised concerns over the issue after seeing a ‘stream of patients’ who had received negative PCR results but positive lateral flow tests.
She told the BBC: ‘The worrying thing here is that these people are all clearly symptomatic and with a very unexpected negative PCR result.’
‘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.
Medics have raised concerns people are unwittingly spreading Covid-19 because of the testing confusion.
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An Independent Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) member has called for an investigation into the lateral flow and PCR testing to be conducted ‘seriously and rapidly’
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