Covid-19: Free PCR tests to end for most in April - BBC News
Lateral flow tests will remain free for now, but routine contact tracing is to be phased out.
Lateral flow tests will only be free for those showing symptoms

Most people will no longer be able to access a free PCR test from 22 April, the health minister has said.

Lateral flow tests (LFTs) will continue to be free, but only for people displaying Covid-19 symptoms and this policy continues to be reviewed.

Routine contact tracing is also set to be phased out between the middle of April and the end of June.

Health Minister Robin Swann said the changes reflected the "new realities of the pandemic".

"The risk posed by the virus at the present time does not justify testing and isolating large swathes of the population at the levels that we have seen to date in the past two years," he added.

"Test and trace will continue to have a key role and will be used in a more focused and targeted way to support and protect our most vulnerable. "

PCR testing will only be available to people who have "clinical reasons" for needing it.

The changes come into effect from 22 April

Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Lourda Geoghegan said it showed Northern Ireland was "moving into a different phase of the pandemic".

She also added that whether people would have to pay for LFTs in future was not something that had been decided upon.

Dr Geoghegan says the changes are in line with what health risk assessments have outlined

"It could be a potential scenario but we haven't worked through that as yet," she said.

"We will be seeking funding for the testing programme that we're continuing, but these changes are being advised on the basis of the public health risk assessment at this point in time.

"We now have a very highly-vaccinated population, we have new and novel treatments that people are accessing every day and we also have a lot of people who have developed natural immunity, so it's right now that we move to a much more targeted approach to our testing and our tracing."

Dr Tom Black, chairman of the British Medical Association (BMA) in Northern Ireland, told BBC Radio Foyle the changes were possible while Omicron remains the dominant variant of coronavirus.

The emergence of any new variants may require a rethink, he added.