The Rapid Covid test trial began today in 14 Scottish nursing homes

Today began a rapid test trial in Scottish care homes that will allow visitors to see their loved ones within an hour of taking a Covid test.

Lateral flow tests will be tested in 14 nursing homes in five local authorities – North Ayrshire, Fife, Argyle and Bute, Inverclyde and Aberdeenshire – before testing kits are dispatched to homes across Scotland From December 14th.

Lateral flow tests deliver results in less than an hour as they don’t need to be processed in the laboratory like other test sets.

Announcing the rapid test pilot, Scottish Health Minister Jane Freeman announced that the tests would provide another important layer of protection against Covid. Pictured: Speaks at the Scottish Parliament last week

Health Minister Jane Freeman told the BBC: “ I am delighted to say that we will be able to significantly expedite the delivery of test kits to all care homes starting December 14, after the pilot phase required to ensure we receive the appropriate mentoring and training. in the place.

This will provide another important layer of protection against COVID, along with basic personal protective equipment and infection prevention and control measures already in place.

Visitors who receive a negative Covid result from side-flow tests are allowed to visit their loved ones while anyone who has tested positive for the virus is sent home and advised to self-isolate.

But the tests were criticized after a separate trial in Liverpool found that rapid lateral flow test kits could lose up to 50% of all cases.

The move comes a week after rapid test kits have been sent to care homes across Britain.

The start of nationwide rapid testing means that relatives who have not contracted the COVID-19 virus have been allowed to visit for the first time since March.

Over a million test kits were sent to nearly 400 large care homes at the end of November, and the first visits took place a week ago today.

The introduction of the tests sparked emotional scenes in foster homes across Britain as loved ones were reunited – in some cases for the first time in months.

Bob Underhill, 84, and his wife Patricia, 82, who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, are pictured kissing through a face mask as they are allowed to visit with physical contact for the first time at Chiswick Nursing Center on Monday.

Bob Underhill, 84, and his wife Patricia, 82, who both suffer from Alzheimer’s, kiss through a face mask as they are allowed to visit with physical contact for the first time at Chiswick Nursing Center in England last week.

Alexandra Glenister was also allowed to visit her mother, Joe Shepherd, and cuddle her at Castle Grove home in Pampton.

This was the first physical contact the husband allowed in a month.

The guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health specify how visits should continue in “default mode” at all levels – unless there is an outbreak of coronavirus in the care home.

Most of the nation’s 410,000 residents in care were only allowed to see their relatives through prison-like screens and windows. Other homes imposed a blanket ban, forcing some elderly people to “give up on life.”

Health Secretary Jane Freeman has insisted that the introduction of the tests will only be effective if people adhere to other rules offered to help limit the spread of COVID, including wearing face coverings.

She added: “ It is important to remember that the test does not replace the other vital layers of protection we have against Covid, and all of these – reducing friction, staying away, wearing face coverings, and vaccinations when they come – work more effectively in order to stop the virus when used together.