Covid: Calls for free lateral flow tests to continue in region

Councillor Azhar Ali wants free Covid testing to continue until the summer

Free lateral flow tests should continue to be offered to people in Lancashire when the government service ends next month, a local councillor has said.

Azhar Ali, Labour opposition leader at the county council, said he had been approached by teachers, parents and governors all worried about rising rates of infection.

He said children not testing for Covid and going to school is "irresponsible".

Mr Ali has called on the authority to fund testing kits until the summer.

The number of hospital patients with the virus in Lancashire has trebled in just under three weeks and currently stands at 93, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

From 1 April most people wanting to take a lateral flow test will have to buy one.

"We have a responsibility to communities," Mr Ali said.

"People are already struggling with the cost of living and if they have to pay for tests then it's a lot of money."

He said funding free tests would be "money well spent" to avoid Covid spread in the community and the impact on business and the NHS.

Lancashire's National Education Union representative Ian Watkinson said relaxing measures in schools had led to "massive disruption" and called for the council to use government Covid funding to pay for tests.

A council spokesman said while the region was seeing cases rising it advised people to follow public health guidance.

The authority said it was following advice from public health professionals and will take a "risk-based approach" on the distribution of its remaining free lateral flow tests.