Every key worker who cannot work from home, including those who operate in construction, will soon have access to a rapid 30-minute test twice a week, the government announced earlier this week.
The government wants to offer the lateral flow tests as part of the Community Testing Programme, with testing sites across England mobilised in a “phased” manner in the coming weeks and months.
Matt Hancock, the health secretary, said: “Targeted asymptomatic testing and subsequent isolation is highly effective in breaking chains of transmission.”
Key workers mostly work in food production, healthcare or construction. But the list of people who look set to qualify the rapid Covid tests does not include agents, despite the housing market being open for business and property viewings permitted to go-ahead, as the government looks to keep the economy moving during the pandemic.
So should agents be added to the list of people who cannot work from home, enabling them to qualify for the weekly rapid Covid tests? Vote now in the poll below.
Also, with the expansion of asymptomatic testing for those unable to work from home, added to the government’s Covid-secure guidance, business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng says that individuals in key sectors can operate in “complete confidence that their workplace is safe”. But do you agree? Is your workplace operating in a Covid-secure manner? Vote now!
The poll closes at 7pm this evening.