With the new travel testing rules, fully vaccinated travellers will have the option to choose a cheaper Day 2 Lateral Flow Glasgow test when they arrive in Scotland, instead of having to pay for a more expensive PCR test.
Currently, those who have received two doses of the MMR vaccine and are returning to Scotland following a trip to a non-red-list country must undergo PCR testing within 72 hours of their arrival.
To book PCR tests, you must work with an official vendor that has been authorized and recognized on the UK government’s registry of Covid testing vendors, or you may use the CRM booking site and pay £68.
However, after the First Minister’s declaration, these laws will be changed this weekend to meet the relaxation of testing standards that went into force recently in England.
How to book and how much will it cost to take the new Scottish traveller screening tests is detailed here. Make sure to read our article as we will discuss both questions in more detail.
Existing Travel Testing Rules For Those Who Are Not Vaccinated Could Be Modified?
People who have taken two doses of the Covid vaccination and are therefore fully protected against the virus are exempt from the new guidelines permitting them to use a cheaper version of the Covis-19 tests for their Day 2 Lateral Flow Glasgow.
Only individuals travelling to Scotland from non-red list countries will be able to use lateral flow testing since seven countries remain on the UK’s red list and pose a significant Covid-19 infection risk to travellers.
What Is The Procedure For Booking A Lateral Flow Test In Scotland?
Fully-vaccinated visitors arriving in Scotland can now arrange a Day 2 Lateral Flow Glasgow starting from October 29, from a list of acceptable providers.
On the GOV.UK website, you can find a list of lateral flow testing providers. However, the option for Day 2 Lateral Flow Glasgow tests will become available starting the date mentioned above. Before that date, you will find that individuals in ‘England only’ can order it.
Changes are expected to be made public on Friday when visitors visit Scotland with more relaxed rules in place.
What Is The Price Of Lateral Flow Testing?
Whereas the price of lateral flow tests on the UK government’s number of providers varies widely based on the type of test provided, those expected to become accessible in Scotland for visitors are estimated to cost between £20 and £30.
If you are coming from a country on the red list and have not taken two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, you will need to pay £68 for an additional PCR test.
In Scotland, however, visitors need to be aware of the stringent requirements for day two testing, such as having a selectivity of 97% or higher and a sensitivity of at least 80% at viral loads more than 100,000 duplicates, which the Scottish Government has established.
Do Lateral Flow Tests Have A High Degree Of Accuracy?
Testing on lateral flow was 99.9% accurate in March 2021, as per the UK government, with a small risk of receiving a false-positive result from one of the other tests.
However, according to the British Medical Journal (BMJ), new research from the UK-based health organization Cochrane revealed that this may not represent the complete story. An earlier Cochrane study released on March 24 announced that lateral flow tests might be more effective at distinguishing between individuals who have symptoms and those who are unaffected.