Covid testing:’Gold standard' ONS testing set to be scrapped
Feb 11, 2022 1:39:54 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2022 1:39:54 GMT
Covid testing: 'Gold standard' ONS testing set to be scrapped making it more difficult to monitor virus spread
Free testing for Covid-19 may be phased out in the coming months (Photo: Jason Cairnduff/Reuters)
The gold standard for measuring the level of coronavirus in the community is expected to be scrapped from this April, as part of the government’s major shift in its response to the pandemic, i understands.
The weekly Covid infection survey run by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which measures both infection rates and antibodies in households, is due to lapse this spring and it will be either scaled back or phased out altogether if the Treasury does not sign off on funding for another year.
As part of the transition to a new phase of “living with covid” in the UK, which was accelerated by Boris Johnson this week, mass testing – including free daily covid tests for anyone who wants them – is also likely to end within weeks, alongside the requirement for anyone with the virus to self-isolate, due to be removed by the end of this month.
But while covid case rates and admissions are now falling rapidly, there are concerns that scrapping the ONS infection survey on top of mass testing will hinder the ability to track the virus in the UK, particularly if a new variant emerges.
The ONS survey is known as the “gold standard” of covid measurements because, while it lags daily case rates, it has been tracking the same households since June 2020 and is therefore not subject to fluctuations in numbers of people self-testing for covid.
Covid testing is expected to continue for health workers, so progression of the virus can be monitored in hospitals in case a new wave emerges.
But the continued monitoring of cases in care homes, known as the Vivaldi study, may also be discontinued, it is understood.
Scientists searching for “the next Omicron”, who use laboratory genome sequences from thousands of positive results a day from mass testing to detect new variants, will have a drastically reduced pool of samples to work with.
They will continue to use the international database, GISAID, which monitors emerging variants across the globe, as well as the smaller set of results from health workers and the ZOE app, which is independent of government, for any possible future waves.
While this means a new variant that could significantly drive up case rates will still be detected, it will take longer to assess whether it is more severe or reduces vaccine effectiveness.
When Omicron first emerged in southern Africa in November, it was assessed as serious by the UK Health Security Agency within around 24 hours of it being formally identified, and classed as a variant of concern by the World Health Organisation within 72 hours.
The UKHSA, which oversees the ONS and Vivaldi programmes, is understood to be in the dark over whether the Treasury will sign off on the funding to extend them for another year, with a final decision expected in the coming weeks.
A source involved in the covid response said: “Ending mass testing is understandable but killing off the ONS survey is nuts. It’s just an obsession with saving money.”
A No 10 spokesman said that ministers had not yet decided whether the ONS and Vivaldi studies should continue: “No decisions have been made about the future of them, but obviously we want to maintain our world-leading surveillance capacity to track the development of Covid-19.”
inews.co.uk/news/politics/covid-testing-gold-standard-ons-testing-set-to-be-scrapped-making-it-difficult-to-monitor-virus-spread-1454482
Free testing for Covid-19 may be phased out in the coming months (Photo: Jason Cairnduff/Reuters)
The gold standard for measuring the level of coronavirus in the community is expected to be scrapped from this April, as part of the government’s major shift in its response to the pandemic, i understands.
The weekly Covid infection survey run by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which measures both infection rates and antibodies in households, is due to lapse this spring and it will be either scaled back or phased out altogether if the Treasury does not sign off on funding for another year.
As part of the transition to a new phase of “living with covid” in the UK, which was accelerated by Boris Johnson this week, mass testing – including free daily covid tests for anyone who wants them – is also likely to end within weeks, alongside the requirement for anyone with the virus to self-isolate, due to be removed by the end of this month.
But while covid case rates and admissions are now falling rapidly, there are concerns that scrapping the ONS infection survey on top of mass testing will hinder the ability to track the virus in the UK, particularly if a new variant emerges.
The ONS survey is known as the “gold standard” of covid measurements because, while it lags daily case rates, it has been tracking the same households since June 2020 and is therefore not subject to fluctuations in numbers of people self-testing for covid.
Covid testing is expected to continue for health workers, so progression of the virus can be monitored in hospitals in case a new wave emerges.
But the continued monitoring of cases in care homes, known as the Vivaldi study, may also be discontinued, it is understood.
Scientists searching for “the next Omicron”, who use laboratory genome sequences from thousands of positive results a day from mass testing to detect new variants, will have a drastically reduced pool of samples to work with.
They will continue to use the international database, GISAID, which monitors emerging variants across the globe, as well as the smaller set of results from health workers and the ZOE app, which is independent of government, for any possible future waves.
While this means a new variant that could significantly drive up case rates will still be detected, it will take longer to assess whether it is more severe or reduces vaccine effectiveness.
When Omicron first emerged in southern Africa in November, it was assessed as serious by the UK Health Security Agency within around 24 hours of it being formally identified, and classed as a variant of concern by the World Health Organisation within 72 hours.
The UKHSA, which oversees the ONS and Vivaldi programmes, is understood to be in the dark over whether the Treasury will sign off on the funding to extend them for another year, with a final decision expected in the coming weeks.
A source involved in the covid response said: “Ending mass testing is understandable but killing off the ONS survey is nuts. It’s just an obsession with saving money.”
A No 10 spokesman said that ministers had not yet decided whether the ONS and Vivaldi studies should continue: “No decisions have been made about the future of them, but obviously we want to maintain our world-leading surveillance capacity to track the development of Covid-19.”
inews.co.uk/news/politics/covid-testing-gold-standard-ons-testing-set-to-be-scrapped-making-it-difficult-to-monitor-virus-spread-1454482