LFT home testing for children and young people

07 January 2022

Children and young people are now included in the Lateral Flow Testing home programme.

Parents and carers are being asked to register online when their current stocks of LFT kits are running low, and a box of 25 kits will be posted to their home address, free of charge.

Parents are asked to ensure their children continue to test themselves at least twice per week, to help keep schools and nurseries safe. There is no change to the way test results should be recorded: they should be logged online, just as they were last year.

Schools, colleges and nurseries will have emergency stocks of LFTs for children who become a direct contact of a positive individual but who have not yet registered for testing and therefore don't have any LFT kits at home. This emergency supply will help direct contact to test themselves daily for 10 days. In the meantime, parents are asked to register for home testing.

Test kits will be posted within seven days, so those who have not yet registered are strongly encouraged to register for home testing as soon as possible, so that they have kits available for regular testing, in the event they become a direct contact.

Rachel Williams, Director of Testing and Tracing, said: "This new LFT delivery process for children will help to reduce the extra administrative burden for school staff, who were fantastic in taking on the extra work last year to support the LFT distribution process.

"There is a good stock of LFTs in the Island and we're continuing to receive new stock. We are delighted that so many Islanders are testing themselves regularly; this is helping to identify positive cases quickly, which helps to keep our Island safe and keep services running.

"The online system is the most effective and efficient way of managing and distributing LFTs in the Island, and we would encourage all parents and carers to register their children today, to receive their free kits in the post in the next week."