Omicron: Lateral Flow Tests Are Being Sold For Up To £150 Online
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Lateral flow tests are reportedly being flogged online as the UK grapples with a shortage amid the ongoing surge in Covid-19 cases.
The kits, which are provided for free by the NHS, have been widely unavailable for several days amid increased demand and supply issues, and it appears some people have spotted a gap in the market.
Searches on websites such as eBay and Facebook Marketplace have revealed that users have been setting aside their ethics to sell the free kits online, with Metro reporting that packs of 7 tests were being sold for as much as £150.
Despite eBay explicitly banning the sale of lateral flow tests on its platform, UNILAD was able to see at least one seller offering the kits for £14.00, though eBay confirmed that the listing had been removed ‘within minutes.’
In a statement, a spokesperson for eBay said ‘We have automatic block filters in place which prevent the vast majority of these tests from making it onto the site. Our policy also continuously monitors the site so that on the very rare occasion that these items do make it on site, they are immediately removed.’
They added that sellers who attempted to list lateral flow tests would be subject to ‘strong enforcement’ including ‘removing listings and suspending accounts.’
The government has faced criticism for current testing shortages, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson having urged people to take a lateral flow test before seeing family and friends during the Christmas and New Year period.
Leyla Hannbeck, chief executive of the Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies, told the i that the potential for shortages ‘should have been anticipated’ in the wake of changes to isolation guidelines, adding ‘the government said it boosted the number of kits by eight million but eight million is not enough.’
In the UK, people who test positive for Covid-19 as well as their close contacts are advised to take daily rapid tests for at least 7 days.
A spokesperson for the UK Health Security Agency said the country was ‘continuing to rapidly expand capacity,’ claiming that delivery capacity for LFT and PCR tests had ‘doubled’ to around 900,000 per day.
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