Responding to the decision on the use of lateral flow tests in
schools and colleges, Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the
Association of School and College Leaders, said:
“We are relieved that lateral flow tests have now been paused as
an alternative to self-isolation for individuals who have been in
close contact with someone who has coronavirus.
“This use of these tests never really made sense because they
don’t detect all those with the infection, so we could
potentially have ended up with more infectious people in school
than under the self-isolation system where close contacts are
sent home. We have been making this point to the government
repeatedly over the past few weeks.
“It is important to understand that this issue is about one
specific use of these tests. We support the principle of using
them for general mass testing of students and staff because this
process should pick up at least a proportion of asymptomatic
cases and improve safety. Our concern was purely over the idea of
using them as a worse alternative to the existing self-isolation
system for close contacts.
“Unfortunately, the government’s insistence on first trying to
use them in this way and then having to do yet another policy
reversal will have thoroughly confused parents, pupils and the
wider public. Schools will once again be left having to unpick
the confusion caused by the government.
“It is important that the government provides absolute clarity
about the limitations of these tests. They are useful in
detecting asymptomatic cases but they are not definitive and it
is vital that individuals continue to follow the normal safety
procedures even if they have a negative result.
“It is also vital that the government reviews the practical
implications of mass testing in secondary schools and colleges
which have been left with the enormous logistical exercise of
recruiting and training large numbers of staff, and setting up
testing stations. As a starting point, it would be much more
straightforward if staff were able to test themselves at home on
a regular basis, as primary staff are now being asked to do. This
would relieve at least some of the pressure on testing stations,
and make the programme more manageable.
“When schools fully reopen, mass testing is an important part of
keeping them open and minimising disruption. The government has
to do better.”
