London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Sep 08, 2025

‘Cruel and unnecessary’: UK government will ask parents to test their kids twice a week for Covid at home – reports

‘Cruel and unnecessary’: UK government will ask parents to test their kids twice a week for Covid at home – reports

The British government is reportedly planning on asking parents to test their children for Covid-19 twice weekly once schools reopen. The rumoured plan has been met with a wave of condemnation.

Boris Johnson’s government is expected to announce the phased reopening of schools as early as next week, with March 8 slated as the target date for reopening. The Telegraph reported on Thursday that secondary school students will be tested en masse once classes begin, and parents will be asked to test them twice a week at home from then on.

The Department of Education did not confirm or deny the report, which came ahead of a meeting between department heads and teachers’ union bosses on Thursday. Talks between the department and the union are expected to focus on how to implement a testing regime. The unions have pushed for at-home testing, and according to the Telegraph they called on-site testing “inoperable” and “ridiculous.”

However, commenters online immediately shot down the idea of at-home testing. One pointed out that the lateral flow tests that would be used have a false positive rate of 0.32 percent, which would generate 6,400 false positives per week, assuming one million secondary school students are being tested. If every one of England's 3.4 million secondary school students are tested, more than 20,000 false cases could be reported every week.


Another Telegraph report this week stated that the government will not ease lockdown restrictions until new coronavirus cases dip below 1,000 per day, a target that would likely be impossible to meet if so many false positives were being reported.

A study by Imperial College London, published on Thursday, found that infections across England have fallen by two thirds since January, but the country is still recording around 10,000 per day – ten times the government’s supposed target.

Aside from the glut of cases – both real and false – that such a testing regime would bring, some commenters said it would be “unenforceable and unreliable,” while others simply balked at the “cruel and unnecessary” idea of subjecting their healthy children to non-stop testing.



 
More than 12 million Britons have already received their first dose of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, more per capita than any other country of comparable population size, according to the British Medical Journal. As the rollout continues, government adviser Sir John Bell told a parliament committee on Wednesday that it is “not plausible” to expect the population to comply with continued restrictions for much longer. People, he warned, want to get back to a “relatively normal way of life.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Threatens Retaliatory Tariffs After EU Imposes €2.95 Billion Fine on Google
Tesla Board Proposes Unprecedented One-Trillion-Dollar Performance Package for Elon Musk
US Justice Department Launches Criminal Mortgage-Fraud Probe into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Escalating Drug Trafficking and Violence in Latin America: A Growing Crisis
US and Taiwanese Defence Officials Held Secret Talks in Alaska
Report: Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission in North Korea Ordered by Trump in 2019 Ended in Failure
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Florida Murder Case: The Adelson Family, the Killing of Dan Markel, and the Trial of Donna Adelson
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Big Tech Executives Laud Trump at White House Dinner, Unveil Massive U.S. Investments
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
‘Looks Like a Wig’: Online Users Express Concern Over Kate Middleton
Brand-New $1 Million Yacht Sinks Just Fifteen Minutes After Maiden Launch in Turkey
Here’s What the FBI Seized in John Bolton Raid — and the Legal Risks He Faces
Florida’s Vaccine Revolution: DeSantis Declares War on Mandates
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
"The Situation Has Never Been This Bad": The Fall of PepsiCo
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
The Fashion Designer Who Became an Italian Symbol: Giorgio Armani Has Died at 91
Putin Celebrates ‘Unprecedentedly High’ Ties with China as Gazprom Seals Power of Siberia-2 Deal
China Unveils New Weapons in Grand Military Parade as Xi Hosts Putin and Kim
Queen Camilla’s Teenage Courage: Fended Off Attempted Assault on London Train, New Biography Reveals
Scottish Brothers Set Record in Historic Pacific Row
Rapper Cardi B Cleared of Liability in Los Angeles Civil Assault Trial
Google Avoids Break-Up in U.S. Antitrust Case as Stocks Rise
Couple celebrates 80th wedding anniversary at assisted living facility in Lancaster
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
The White House on LinkedIn Has Changed Their Profile Picture to Donald Trump
"Insulted the Prophet Muhammad": Woman Burned Alive by Angry Mob in Niger State, Nigeria
Trump Responds to Death Rumors – Announces 'Missile City'
Court of Appeal Allows Asylum Seekers to Remain at Essex Hotel Amid Local Tax Boycott Threats
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
United Krack down on human rights: Graham Linehan Arrested at Heathrow Over Three X Posts, Hospitalised, Released on Bail with Posting Ban
Asian and Middle Eastern Investors Avoid US Markets
Ray Dalio Warns of US Shift to Autocracy
Eurozone Inflation Rises to 2.1% in August
Russia and China Sign New Gas Pipeline Deal
China's Robotics Industry Fuels Export Surge
Suntory Chairman Resigns After Police Probe
Gold Price Hits New All-Time Record
Von der Leyen's Plane Hit by Suspected Russian GPS Interference in an Incident Believed to Be Caused by Russia or by Pro-Peace or by Anti-Corruption European Activists
UK Fintechs Explore Buying US Banks
Greece Suspends 5% of Schools as Birth Rate Drops
Apollo to Launch $5 Billion Sports Investment Vehicle
Bolsonaro Trial Nears Close Amid US-Brazil Tension
European Banks Push for Lower Cross-Border Barriers
Poland's Offshore Wind Sector Attracts Investors
Nvidia Reveals: Two Mystery Customers Account for About 40% of Revenue
Woody Allen: "I Would Be Happy to Direct Trump Again in a Film"
×