OUR TESTING TIMES AHEAD

LFTs charge ‘like Russian roulette’

- EMER SCULLY

CHARGING for lateral flow tests and reducing Covid restrictions is playing “Russian roulette” with lives, a top scientist warns.

Professor Susan Michie, a member of Government advisors SAGE, fears a variant that defies vaccines could emerge if cases continue to increase.

There were already 4.26million people carrying the virus in the week to March 19, approaching the peak of 4.3 million in the first week of this year.

Prof Michie also hit out at Downing Street for encouraging people to “soldier on” as if “everything’s normal”.

The BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron is now dominant in Britain and infections have been rising since Christmas.

One in 16 in England tested positive for Covid in the latest week of data.