There are conflicting reports about the validity of lateral flow tests
The South African doctor who discovered Omicron has warned that lateral flow tests are not identifying the Covid variant in the initial days of infection.
While lateral flow tests have become key tools in the fight against Covid, Dr Angelique Coetzee, who is head of the South African Medical Association, believes rapid response tests are not always showing accurate results.
Speaking to a Science and Technology Committee on Tuesday, Coetzee said: “We do have patients that waited a week and still have a headache and then they do PCR and it’s positive.”
In contrast, Dr Susan Hopkins from the UK Health Security Agency told MPs that lateral flows can still be relied on. Shortages of the tests have been reported this week along with problems booking booster jabs.
Tory Minister Gillian Keegan tells #r4today "we have plenty of lateral flow tests, so get yourself tested before going out"
Here's the .GOV website at 08.37 this morning: pic.twitter.com/b9VgjNC1wK
— I Am Incorrigible also on Bluesky, threads & masto (@ImIncorrigible) December 16, 2021
“Lateral flow devices will detect in asymptomatic as well as symptomatic infection,” she explained.
Read more: The UK just recorded the highest number of new Covid infections since the pandemic began
“They’ve been used very effectively now for almost one year in the UK population.
“What we know is that overall it will detect about 50 per cent of cases compared to PCR, but it will detect about 80 per cent or even more than that of people who have high amounts of virus and therefore are at the highest risk of transmitting to others.”
Lateral flows are like a sniff test for milk going off.
You certainly wouldn't believe a negative sniff test if the milk had lumps in it ; just like you shouldn't rely on a lateral flow if you have symptoms.
— Dr Philip Lee (@drphiliplee1) December 12, 2021
Hopkins also emphasised that people should still be doing lateral flow tests before socialising, stating that it’s going to “reduce the risk of going into that venue with asymptomatic infection and therefore transmitting to others”.
On Wednesday, Professor Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer Professor, urged Brits to prioritise “only those things that really matter to them”, warning there is a risk that events that aren’t a “priority”, may stop people from attending things that are.
Coetzee earlier this week wrote an opinion piece where she called out Boris Johnson’s response to Omicon as “verging on hysteria”.
Coetzee suggests that while Omicron is more transmissible, the symptoms are “very, very mild”, making it “far less dangerous” than previous variants.
She also argued that Omicron could actually be a “friend, not a foe” by helping people build natural immunity without making them too sick.
Related links:
- If you catch covid from today you’ll have to isolate for Xmas – here are the symptoms to watch out for
- The government wants you to take a tier-system approach to friendships as Omicron spreads
- Shock horror – Dominic Raab doesn’t have a clue what’s going on with Omicron
- Omicron symptoms: What you should be looking out for
