Evening Standard Comment: Get to grips with rip-off Covid PCR tests

Patient samples are transferred by scientists into plates before entering the PCR process for Covid-19 testing at the Glasgow Lighthouse coronavirus testing facility (Jane Barlow/PA)
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Last week, Health Secretary Sajid Javid announced that the cost of NHS Test and Trace tests for international arrivals would be reduced, and that the price structure for private providers was to be urgently reviewed.

Holidaymakers have known they were being swindled for months. And now the Competition and Markets Authority has revealed that it warned the Government back in April that consumers could face risks of a rip-off PCR testing industry.

Why did it not act? All the while, many providers are still operating well above guide price.

Javid announced a review lasting 10 days, asserting that providers who failed to meet necessary standards on misleading prices will be removed. Yet the summer holiday season is nearly over and there is still insufficient detail on how they plan to shut down dodgy suppliers.

It is the Government’s responsibility to ensure a new sector, particularly one created by its own regulations, cannot use the British public as a cash machine.

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