Family members visiting elderly relatives in care homes will not be given free Covid tests beforehand, Downing Street has confirmed.
The prime minister’s official spokesman said the costs of the tests - which will no longer be free of charge from April 1 - will be a “matter for the private market”.
Government officials believe an average box of lateral flow tests will be around £20 once the new arrangements come in.
Some people, such as over-80s and those in healthcare settings, will still get free tests.
But asked by journalists this morning if they would be available to care home visitors, the PM’s spokesman said “no”.
He said they would only be targeted at the “most vulnerable and frontline staff” after April 1.
The announcement comes as people struggle to order lateral flow tests online amid a scramble for kits while they are still free.
Asked how much an LFT was expected to sell for in pharmacies after the change, the prime minister’s official spokesman said: “That will be a matter for the private market.
“Obviously, we’ve seen what the costs are in European countries where people are already expected to pay for their tests in the main and we will regulate the market in the ways that you would expect.
“But that’s something that there will now be a market developing for.”
Yesterday Boris Johnson set out his intention to end universal free testing in England, saying the system cost more than £2 billion in January alone.
He said that free testing for the general public would end on April 1, but tests would still be available to symptomatic elderly and vulnerable people.