Lateral flow tests will no longer be free in the months to come, the UK government has confirmed.
Free universal lateral flow tests will reportedly be scrapped by the government in June, although an official date has yet to be confirmed.
The UK has relied upon free testing to help tackle the spread of coronavirus throughout the pandemic.
But as working from home guidance was lifted, individuals and businesses will now bear the brunt of the cost with reports suggesting a box of seven previously free will now set you back £30.
According to the Reuters news agency, health officials had previously planned to make the change before the arrival of the Omicron variant which pushed plans back.
A spokesperson for Boris Johnson said: "Yes, lateral flow access, remain free to use and we continue to encourage people to access them.
"As you’ll know in our autumn and winter plan which we published last year we were clear that at a later stage that governments as our response to the virus further evolves universal free provision of things like lateral flow tests will end.”
Full list of Covid rule changes announced by Boris Johnson
People will no longer be told to work from home and, from Thursday next week when Plan B measures lapse, mandatory Covid passes will end, Mr Johnson said.
The legal requirement for people with coronavirus to self-isolate will also be allowed to lapse when the regulations expire on March 24, and that date could be brought forward.
When it comes to face masks, the Government will no longer make people wear them anywhere from next Thursday and they will be scrapped in classrooms from this Thursday, with school communal areas to follow.
The PM told Commons: "We resisted calls from others to shut down our country all over again.
"This government took a different path. We supported businesses that faced a reduce demand.
"The data is showing that time and again this Government got the tough decisions right.
"Cases are falling in England. Our scientists think it is likely the Omicron wave has now peaked nationally.
"Hospital admissions which were doubling every nine days have now stabilised, with admissions in places falling.
"This morning, the Cabinet decided that we can return to Plan A in England.
"As a result, mandatory certification will end. Organisations can choose to use in voluntarily, but it will not be compulsory.
"We are no longer asking people to work from home.
"The Cabinet concluded that once regulations lapse, the Government will no longer mandate the wearing of face maks anywhere.
"From tomorrow, we will no longer require face masks in classrooms."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel