A major UK Covid testing firm is set to halve the cost of its PCR test kit for travel to £60. This means that when overseas travel returns, testing costs will add almost £250 to the bill for a family of four (returning from a “green list” country) as opposed to almost £500 – a more feasible, yet still hefty sum. The Independent has the story.
Randox, based in Northern Ireland, says it will offer the test for just £60 to airline passengers – though the Independent understands negotiations are not yet complete.
At present international leisure travel from the UK is illegal. The Government has indicated it will allow overseas trips from May 17th – but says that all returning travellers must take at least one PCR test after arrival.
These tests, which require specialist equipment to analyse, typically cost £120 – representing almost £500 for a family of four.
The County Antrim firm is the first to announce a significant cut.
The Managing Director of Randox, Dr Peter FitzGerald, said: “In recognition of the needs of both the travel industry and the British public at this unprecedented time, Randox will reduce the all-inclusive cost of PCR testing for those in the UK undertaking international travel to £60 per test.
“We can see the pressures faced by both the travel industry and the general public and are committed to effective and economical testing to support holidaymakers and those undertaking international travel.”
Even those travelling to “green list” countries on the Government’s “traffic light” system will have to take one test when returning to the UK, as the Telegraph recently reported.
Travellers who want to visit countries on the safe “green list” will still be expected to pay for gold standard PCR tests on their return to the UK…
People who have been fully vaccinated will still be required to take the PCR tests on or before the second day of their arrival back in the UK because of Government concerns that “green list” countries could still harbour new Covid variants.
Holidaymakers arriving from those countries will not have to spend any time in quarantine under the new traffic light system, which is expected to replace the current ban on foreign travel from May 17th.
The Independent’s report is worth reading in full.
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If you are not ill or showing symptoms of this virus you should not be tested. This scam has to end. In any event the PCR test is not suitable for mass testing.
Is every foreign traveller arriving here required to do a test?; and if not, why are British people returning from abroad supposed to test themselves?
Not like governments to create perverse incentives, is it?
All for the zealots sustainable planet blah blah. Got sent an NHS box of nose prodder’s in the post and put it straight back in the post box, return to sender, someone else might like it.
Gold standard for fraud, extortion, dehumanization, randomness and uselessness.
It’s totally ridiculous to demand a test b4 departure and then another one after arrival, especially from low incidence countries.
The tests are useless until standardized and the criteria and results are made transparent to the tested person for at least the ct number and the number (at least3) and kinds of gene snippets searched for and confirmed.
The swab technique is unnecessarily uncomfortable and invasive and as such illegal, as it impedes upon ones bodily autonomy.
Ba*tards.
“ gold standard PCR tests ..”
Uh? What mythical beast is that?
that’s the new propaganda. The PCR test is now only and always referred to as the ‘gold standard PCR test’
Neurolinguistic programming (NLP) brainwashing techniques at their finest.
I hadn’t come across the term before. But obviously you’re right.
Begs the question – if there is a gold standard PCR test then why have we been using the ‘brown standard’ shitty inaccurate one? Cost?
Thanks, I’m going to steal that. I’m now going to teach my spell checker to auto replace “PCR” with “brown-standard PCR”.
I made that implication at first – and then realized that it was just an adjectival bolted on the inculcate the idea that PCR tests are diagnostically immaculate.
Gold standard in carrying out a monumental fraud. The brilliant and honest Kary Mullis would be spinning in his grave and no wonder he had to go.
I’ve made it a mission to never have a Klaus Swab up my nose, a Jab in my arm and a muzzle on my face.
Aha – you are Tom Cruise and I claim my 50 dollars. (Cue that music!).
Me too. Besides, the government has already got up my nose and there’s not much room left.
Do other people ever get tested?
I’m 50 – never had a test, not had a vaccine, don’t know anybody that died of covid, know a few who had it mildly (including my family – probably – though it could have been another cold)
Its like living next to a parallel universe I get hints of occasionally. Covidverse. Of course I live in lockdown but the covid thing seems to have ignored my part of the world completely. Even when you look at the stats (as we all have selection bias when looking around) there’s nothing there apart from a blip last Spring. Even the NHS workers I know think its all a load of nonsense.
I honestly wonder if the whole thing isn’t a complete fabrication. The wonderful Christine on informscotland.uk has been plotting the Scottish government stats. From Christmas to New Year, every single area of Scotland had the identical graph. She said that was medically and statistically impossible. I think they just release the figures that tie into the false narrative. Only one person from my church or bridge club has had it and I would have thought that was medically and statistically impossible in an ‘epidemic’
Something has been happening over the last year – the two sharp concentrated peaks in all-cause mortality are clearly a bit unusual.
But, importantly, the total mortality over 15 months is not exceptional. There is no evidence that GP surveillance showed that respiratory illness never reached official ‘epidemic’ levels. The other key definition : ‘pandemic’ refers only to geographic spread – not virulence. The WHO made an alteration after the Swine ‘Flu pseudo panic didn’t work out.
The two spikes are highly unusual. The flu vaccine probably played a major role for both spikes, along with the Covid vaccines for spike 2. The rest is down to lack of medical treatment, medical mistreatment, misdiagnosis, sleight of hand and false accounting.
I had several ‘compulsory’ tests while in ITU recently, when I got home and checked on the new ‘mycare’ NHS portal they were all negative yet I am still receiving text notices of same almost two weeks later.
I’ve got an operation coming up and they swabbed me for MRSA today (simple non invasive and I did it myself). They expect me to have a covid test before the operation. The idea I could possibly have covid in midsummer in the UK is beyond ridicule!
You’re right, Steve. But my experience is the same as Karen’s. I have both taken and refused PCR tests. But when you are kept breathing by excellent staff, you get to know when to get arsey, and when to concede.
When I’ve taken a test, I’ve insisted on doing the nasal swab myself – and I’ve also made sure that the nurse involved gets some truthful information about PCR (same re masks). I do understand that they are actually more under the cosh than me.
Most vaccine candidates fail to get licensed because issues come up in the testing process. No mRNA vaccine has ever been licensed for example. No coronavirus vaccine has ever made it in 50 years of trying. Because of this I predicted last year that at least one vaccine will have been withdrawn by March and the others would follow in time.
I’m not doing bad so far
AZ – banned in multiple countries
J&J – being ‘delayed’ due to health concerns
I’m surprised the mRNA stuff has come under less scrutiny – maybe like cigarettes or asbestos they just take more time to ‘work’
There are plenty of bad reactions to the Pfizer and Moderna “vaccines” but the AZ fiasco has served to take the heat off these dodgy mRNA offerings.
Just for old times’ sake – and because I know you all hate it!
Zoe update
R has been below 1 since early January
The peak, drop and peak from 12th-26th Feb was vaccine side effects confusing the data
The slight rise above 1 was a little late for schools reopening – was probably hayfever
In my defence – numbers so low as to be meaningless. Less than 2000 symptomatic for the whole UK each day.
These charges remind me of when car main dealerships installed computerised diagnostic machines that you had to pay £75.00 × VAT to find out what was wrong whenever your central computer control light went on.
That might be anything from your Big End is about to blow or ‘you’ve got dimples on yer tappets mate’.
All that because they no longer employed proper engineers, just fitters who only knew how to replace parts.
Then one day you call the AA and he’s got a hand held unit that not only does the same job FOC but the same unit works for Ford, BMW and Vauxhall because they are all in cahoots with the scam
To my surprise some people still pay their main dealer for the same same ‘service’. Sorry to wander off topic.
No, I would say no thanks but that would be polite when I prefer to say No you f ing c**t.
BTW there is a short video going around of the pig dictator say that vaccines don’t matter it’s lockdowns that work.
its neither vaccines or lockdowns. he is wrong every time he opens his stupid mouth – as is the cretin Whitty who he is channeling
Its immunity and season
nothing else explains Sweden
Yes, more or less the same – except for what appears to be a delay in the 2021 peak. The peaks would have coincided at a similar level, but deaths in the 80+ cohort correlating very well with the vaccination programme, added to the normal peak with a week or so delay.
Here he is, Mr. Piggy ‘A gift to anti-vaxxers’: BoJo angers Brits after claiming lockdown NOT vaccinations reduced Covid cases — RT UK News
The only deadly new variant I’m worried about is the next one out of Downing Street. I’ve heard death is instantaneous and you don’t show any symptoms.
Only goes to show how much they’ve all been fleecing the government over the last 13 months.
Yup; my immediate thought too!
Me three, if they can halve the price and still make a profit how the hell much were they making previously?
“At present international leisure travel from the UK is illegal”
Really? Can’t you travel overseas to ‘view property to buy’ and perhaps take two weeks to do it?
Thats what Stan Johnson did so it must be right, sonny boy would not look the other way would he?
I decided to revive an old board game, to brush up on my skills for future travel.
Excellent video, please share.
https://www.brasscheck.com/video/not-a-single-thing-they-said-was-true/
Thanks – Nick Hudson from PANDA
Set the cycle at 10 and charge the government not the user.
The value for money is unchanged: zero.
This is good news indeed. This is suggestive of an end to PCR. It’s like the housing market. Prices are going to reach a febrile fever pitch just before it crashes spectacularly. And “thar she blows”.
“Gold standard PCR tests”- don’t make me laugh ( or cry)!
“Gold standard” and Ranpox in the same sentence? Don’t make me laugh