The high street pharmacy company Boots is set to provide a Covid-19 swab test that will provide a result in just twelve minutes. However, the cost of this test will be £120 – and will only be available to customers not showing symptoms.
Boots say that their objective is to offer customers peace of mind. However, they add that anyone in the UK who thinks they have symptoms should stay at home and contact the NHS to book a Covid-19 test in the usual way.
Trails of this test suggest it is accurate enough to identify cases, although, like any Covid-19 test, there are some false results meaning they are not 100% reliable.
Professor Paul Hunter from the University of East Anglia told the BBC that whilst the test could give peace of mind at the time it was taken, he also stressed, ‘A negative test today tells you nothing really about whether you are going to be positive a day or two later.’
This technology to be utilised by Boots has been developed by LumiraDx. The BBC have said that this company has already truck a deal to provide tests for NHS Scotland.
