Coronavirus (COVID-19) testing for adult social care settings
Outlines the COVID-19 testing available for testing staff, residents and visitors for all adult social care settings.
Applies to England
Documents
Step-by-step guide to COVID-19 self-testing: SureScreen 25 pack nose-only test
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Details
Testing for COVID-19 in adult social care (ASC) is crucial to help protect those who receive care and adult social care staff. Testing programmes identify people who may unknowingly have the virus, enabling those who test positive and their contacts to self-isolate and break the chain of transmission.
Testing is an important part of the approach to help protect those in adult social care services, alongside infection control measures and proper use of personal protective equipment (PPE). Vaccination offers vital protection, but no vaccine is 100% effective, and importantly we do not yet know if being vaccinated prevents transmission of the disease. Therefore, testing and other infection control measures must continue to be used together to help keep care home residents, those who receive care and staff safe.
We are continuously reviewing our testing strategy for adult social care in light of the latest evidence and available testing.
Please see the following testing guidance for a range of specific adult social care settings:
Alternative formats
The COVID-19 self-test instructions are also available as an easy read and in other languages.
Watch a video on how to self-test using a lateral flow test kit
Anyone in the UK with COVID-19 symptoms can get a test.
Give feedback about your test kit or report harm
If anything in your test kit is damaged or missing, do not use it. You can still use the other tests in the pack.
If you’ve been harmed or had a reaction using the test kit, report it as soon as possible.
Find out how to give feedback about your test kit or report harm.
Last updated
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Added information about giving feedback about your test kit or reporting harm.
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Removed on-site testing and self-test attachments and added 'Step-by-step guide to COVID-19 self-testing: SureScreen 25 pack nose-only test'.
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Updated to reflect policy has now changed regarding self-isolation for fully vaccinated individuals following contact with a COVID-19 positive case. References to lockdown also removed to reflect the easing of national COVID-19 restrictions.
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Updated to reflect changes to policy when there is one case of COVID-19 in a care home, rapid lateral flow testing frequency, changes to policy when there are 2 or more cases of COVID-19 in a care home and changes to ending outbreak restrictions, when they can lifted and ongoing testing after this period.
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Updated 'COVID-19 testing available for adult social care in England: a summary' to reflect that policy for responding to the Delta variant (first identified in India) in care homes has now changed. As has been the case for the Alpha variant (first identified in Kent) cases since May 2021, for outbreaks involving the Delta variant, end of outbreak testing can now be undertaken 14 days (previously 28) after the most recent positive case. All positive cases should be treated as the Delta variant, unless proven otherwise.
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Updated 'On-site testing for adult social care services: rapid lateral flow test guide' and 'Self-test for ASC services: summary rapid LFT guide' to clarify how to report missing or damaged components in test kits and how to read results; and to reflect Scotland moving to 119. 'Self-test for adult social care services: detailed rapid lateral flow test guide' also updated to reflect Scotland moving to 119. Updated 'Self-test for ASC services: summary rapid LFT guide' to reflect IHP registration page update.
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NHS helpline number for Scotland changed to 119.
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Updated 'COVID-19 testing available for adult social care in England: a summary' to reflect a reduction in the time required to determine the end of an outbreak in care homes, that extra care and supported living testing now includes visitors, the testing regime for day care centres has changed, personal assistants testing regime has been removed and universal testing is now offered. Renamed 'Step-by-step guide for ASC staff to self-test using rapid lateral flow tests' to 'Self-test for adult social care services: detailed rapid lateral flow test guide' and 'Rapid lateral flow testing in ASC settings: an overview' to 'Self-test for ASC services: summary rapid LFT guide'.
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Updated to add 'Visitors to adult social care settings: reporting rapid lateral flow tests at home' guidance.
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First published.
Update history
2023-03-31 16:15
Notice added to ‘COVID-19 testing in adult social care’ about upcoming withdrawal of guidance.
2022-12-15 15:03
Updated ‘COVID-19 testing in adult social care’ to streamline outbreak testing in small care homes in line with the latest evidence and to advise when rapid response testing is relevant for small care homes.
2022-11-14 11:55
Replaced information in How to use your rapid lateral flow tests for MP Biomedicals Rapid Antigen Tests with SureScreen tests.
2022-09-08 15:46
Updated care home outbreak testing for COVID-19 flowchart in line with the pause to routine asymptomatic testing.
2022-08-24 16:53
Updated in line with the pause to routine asymptomatic testing from 31 August.
2022-05-09 15:01
Added care home outbreak testing flowchart: staff and residents (PDF and HTML versions).
2022-04-19 15:33
Updated COVID-19 testing in adult social care.
2022-03-31 16:07
Added COVID-19 testing in adult social care guidance.
2022-02-16 16:05
Added updated information regarding vaccination and testing. Moved the instructions for use for SureScreen 25 rapid lateral flow tests to:
2022-02-04 09:03
Updated COVID-19 testing available for adult social care in England: a summary.
2022-01-18 09:48
2022-01-06 17:18
Removed on-site testing and self-test attachments and added ‘Step-by-step guide to COVID-19 self-testing: SureScreen 25 pack nose-only test’.
2021-11-01 09:30
Added How to use your rapid lateral flow test (PDF and HTML versions).
2021-10-13 15:21
Updated to reflect policy has now changed regarding self-isolation for fully vaccinated individuals following contact with a COVID-19 positive case. References to lockdown also removed to reflect the easing of national COVID-19 restrictions.
2021-09-24 17:30
Updated to reflect changes to policy when there is one case of COVID-19 in a care home, rapid lateral flow testing frequency, changes to policy when there are 2 or more cases of COVID-19 in a care home and changes to ending outbreak restrictions, when they can lifted and ongoing testing after this period.
2021-05-20 12:00
NHS helpline number for Scotland changed to 119.
2021-03-24 12:14
First published.