Daily swab sample could reduce need for social distancing, health minister predicts 

We will all soon be able to test ourselves for Covid-19 when we brush our teeth in the morning, a health minister has predicted.

Lord Bethell said the Government was exploring technology which will allow people to conduct a test every day. 

This will mean they can safely stop social distancing without fear of putting others at risk, allowing them to travel on public transport, socialise and return to work.

‘It means that you are enabled – and enabled is the key word here – to go to the pub, to go to the theatre, to do things where social distancing is problematic,’ Lord Bethell told the Conservative Party conference.

The tests – called LAMP tests (Loop-mediated Isothermal Amplification) – are cheap, fast and portable, allowing them to be used on a daily basis.

Similar to a pregnancy test, they only require a spit sample and take a few moments to deliver a result.

They do not have the same accuracy as the standard PCR Covid tests – which require a laboratory to process them and at least a day of waiting to get a result.

But Lord Bethell said it is not necessary for these tests to be completely accurate.

He added: ‘These are not the same tests you would get if you are about to have brain surgery or going to see a frail grandmother.

‘But they would be if you were thinking about going to work or to travel on public transport.

‘We would have different tests for different purposes.’ He said one of the trickier elements of Covid is that someone could catch it one day but not test positive for several days.

‘So regular testing becomes really important.

‘Certainly, if you brush your teeth and take a test first thing in the morning, and it’s negative, you’ve got a pretty good chance – and we’ve tried to develop the science around this – of not being positive today or tomorrow.

‘Even if the test is not 100 per cent, if it dramatically reduces transmission then it will have a huge impact.’

He said trials at Southampton had shown there are hardly any false positives with these tests – which is a real issue when testing millions of asymptomatic people.

Lord Bethell also dismissed the growing calls for the country to shield the elderly while reducing restrictions on everyone else, adding: ‘We will all have to share the burden.’

He gave the example of spring break in Florida, when students caught the virus, then their mothers and fathers, then their grandparents.

‘Six weeks later and the hospitals were full,’ he said.

‘I don’t think is a greater opportunity, I’m afraid, to really shield and protect older vulnerable generations. The virus relentlessly moves up through the generations.’

He also courted controversy by claiming Britain will look back at its Covid-19 response ‘like the Olympics’ and be ‘extremely proud’. 

Lord Bethell added: ‘There have been some outstanding pieces of delivery that have not been fully appreciated. When it’s all over and we look back and reflect, we will actually be extremely proud of ourselves.’