Only one in five with Covid symptoms in UK seek test, says study

ONLY one person in five in Britain with Covid-19 symptoms has sought or would get a test done, a study has found.

This is likely to happen for people on low pay and poor adherence to the government's rules.

This was a study done by the British Medical Journal, where 18 per cent said they got or would get a test done after showing symptoms and 42.5 per cent would fully adhere to isolation rules.

"This is such an important part of any government's pandemic control measures," one of the authors of the report - Susan Michie, a University College London health psychology professor - told BBC Radio.

"I think given that new cases a day are stuck at around 4,000 this is a ... real area where we could begin to make progress."

Michie said people told researchers they did not isolate because they needed to leave home for provisions or caring responsibilities or to go to work, often in low-paid jobs.

She said developing countries such as Vietnam were doing a good job at providing financial support to help people follow isolation rules.

However, Britain has earmarked £37 billion for spending on its test and trace system over two years. Lawmakers said last month that it had failed in its key goals.

The survey was based on responses from 53,880 people - some of whom had contracted Covid-19 - between March 2 last year and January 27 2021.