Travellers Filming Themselves Taking Lateral Flow Tests Suggested To Tackle System Cheats
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Flight passengers could be asked to film themselves taking Covid-19 tests in an attempt to clamp down on faked lateral flow tests, travel industry experts have said.
The idea comes after the UK announced last week that double vaccinated travellers arriving in the UK would be able to take the cheaper self-reported tests, instead of PCR tests which are sent to a lab.
However, the plans have raised concerns that the system could be more easily cheated, with lateral flow tests more easily faked and with no current system in place to verify and monitor the test results.
According to The Telegraph, the government is considering a number of ways to make the system less easy to manipulate, including requiring passengers to take the tests at designated sites, or by completing them while on a video consultation with a registered test provider.
A source told the newspaper:
You could have a simple mail order system, but the problem is that you have no verification whatsoever. You only have to look at social media to see videos of people faking it. It’s up to the industry to come up with solutions.
While no official plans for testing verification have been confirmed, the Department of Health is expected to lay out a series of measures that testing providers will be required to meet in order to prevent travellers from gaming the system.
The travel industry has been pushing for the cost of testing to be brought down for travellers amid concerns that the price of PCR tests is putting people off going abroad. However earlier this week, air travel bosses went even further, calling for an end to all testing for fully vaccinated flyers in line with the ‘frictionless’ travel seen in EU Schengen countries.
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