Kate Garraway has expressed concerns over Boris Johnson’s plans to roll out a twice-weekly COVID test for Brits.
Good Morning Britain host Kate gave her reaction to the news this morning.
And it’s clear to see that Kate – whose husband Derek Draper has been in hospital for over a year after contracting coronavirus – is concerned about the scheme.
What is the new COVID test scheme?
A new multi-billion pound scheme is set to be introduced this Friday (April 9).
It will see the government offering each person two free lateral flow tests to check for COVID-19 each week.
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The idea is it’ll help to prevent coronavirus outbreaks as the economy reopens.
The government claims it will “help break the chain of transmission”.
However, speaking to GMB’s resident doctor, Dr Amir Khan, Kate shared her worries.
What did Kate Garraway say about the tests?
Kate expressed concerns first about the cost of the scheme.
“It’s going to cost billions isn’t it?” she asked Dr Khan.
“It going to cost a huge amount of money!”
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Kate then listened as he explained that the tests are only 58% effective at picking up asymptomatic cases of coronavirus.
It’s going to cost billions isn’t it? It’s going to cost a huge amount of money!
“So the worry is, you might well have COVID, you’ve had a negative test, you feel good about that, and therefore maybe relax, maybe push the limit a bit more and go out and about and into gatherings as summer progresses…,” a worried Kate said.
She added: “But, in fact, be a carrier potentially.
Dr Khan replied: “Yes, well there’s that worry but there’s more of a worry that you don’t have COVID but these tests actually suggest you do, false positives.”
What did Brits say about the scheme?
Some branded the scheme “lunacy”.
Posting on Twitter, one Brit said: “The healthy to test themselves twice a week. More lunacy.”
Another hit out at the segment on GMB.
One viewer said: “#GMB pushing the twice weekly COVID test! Absolutely hilarious! Turning this evil [bleep] off!!”
However, others shared Kate’s concerns about the cost of the scheme.
One said: “Who is going to pay for all these COVID tests? Going forward are we going to have to start paying for these tests.”
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