Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many care homes in England (a) have started and (b) are waiting to begin regular covid-19 testing.
All care homes in England are currently eligible for a combination of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and lateral flow device (LFD) testing. As part of our updated guidance on regular testing, staff have provision for two LFD and one PCR tests per week and residents have provision for one PCR test per month. In addition, all staff have access to ‘rapid response’ testing if a positive case is detected in the home consisting of daily LFD testing until five days after any further cases are found. Residents do not currently undertake regular LFD testing, unless in an outbreak setting.