As of Tuesday 11 January, the University’s testing guidance will change, in line with the Government’s advice, as follows:
- If you have a positive LFD result but do not have symptoms: You no longer need to book a confirmatory PCR through the Early Alert Service. Instead, you should self-isolate in line with Government guidance.
- If you have COVID-19 symptoms: you should self-isolate and perform an LFD test. If the result is positive, you should follow the guidance above. If negative, you should perform another LFD test 24 hours later. If that test is negative, you should book a PCR test, preferably at the University’s Early Alert Service.
These changes reflect the fact that LFD tests are very reliable at detecting positive cases (a positive LFD indicates infection in more than 99.5% of cases), and will help to reduce pressure on testing capacity in the NHS and at the University.
