The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has extended the offer of government-funded lateral flow testing to the waste sector in England.
Lateral flow tests are used to try and identify a higher proportion of asymptomatic people with Covid-19. Lateral flow devices do not require a laboratory to process the test and so produce results quickly.
Prime minister Boris Johnson looking at a sample at a lateral flow testing laboratory in November 2020 (picture: Alex Gakos, Shutterstock)
The free test kits will be available to waste management companies, alongside other businesses and public sector organisations, until 31 March 2021.
Those companies interested in the tests should email P-and-PSector@dhsc.gov.uk including “Register interest for National Worker Programme” in the subject line. They should also include information such as their company’s name, main email contact, industry sector, registration number, and size.
Asymptomatic testing sites
The DHSC has invited employers to establish asymptomatic testing sites in workplaces, enabling employees and contractors to access lateral flow tests and receive rapid results.
To support this, the government will provide free lateral flow devices shipped to one location, a clinically approved protocol, a guidebook to describe how to set up and run a safe and effective testing site, on-demand training for the operatives who will process the tests and run the site, and a GDPR-compliant digital process to report results to Public Health England.
The government’s current offer does not include lateral flow tests that employees can take at home without assistance or supervision. It says communications will be issued as soon as self-testing is available.
Last week the NHS issued guidance for sites conducting lateral flow testing explaining what they should do with any subsequent waste (see letsrecycle.com story).
Lateral flow tests
An estimated 734,600 lateral flow tests have been distributed across the public and private sectors so far.
“By offering rapid testing in the workplace, we are offering additional peace of mind to those who are unable to work from home during the current lockdown”
Health secretary Matt Hancock said: “With around one in three people not showing symptoms, testing those without symptoms is vital to breaking chains of transmission.
“By offering rapid testing in the workplace, we are offering additional peace of mind to those who are unable to work from home during the current lockdown.
“Lateral flow tests have already been hugely successful in finding positive cases we would not otherwise find, and I encourage employers and workers to take this offer up to help protect essential services and businesses.”
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Source: letsrecycle.com Waste Managment
