Covid in Scotland: Wrongheaded to stop free lateral flow tests, says Nicola Sturgeon

Nicola Sturgeon has insisted it would be “utterly wrongheaded” to halt the free availability of lateral flow tests as her health secretary dismissed the idea of following England and reducing quarantine to five days. Under plans reportedly being considered by UK officials, the tests could soon be made available only in “high-risk” settings such as care homes, hospitals and schools. A Whitehall source told The Sunday Times: “I don’t think we are in a world where we can continue to hand out free lateral flow tests to everybody forevermore. It’s likely we will move to a scenario where there is less testing but where we have a capacity to ramp it up if necessary, such as in the winter.”