The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has suggested that Covid testing will be scaled up for the winter as pressures on the NHS are expected to rise in the coming months.

The new strain BA.2.86, as well as 'Pirola' and 'Eris' are believed to be the cause of this.

Officials fear the UK is "flying blind" in regard to COVID-19 as a result of winding down surveillance programmes that were put in place at the height of the pandemic.

The announcement was made following students returning after the summer break, employees heading back to work and indoor gatherings becoming more common – factors that are known to increase the risk of respiratory infections, including Covid, spreading.

Prof Steven Riley, the director general of data, analytics and surveillance at the UKHSA, told the Guardian: “Planned scaling up of testing and community surveillance for the winter season, when health pressures usually rise, is in progress and UKHSA will make a further announcement regarding community surveillance plans for this winter shortly.

“Protecting the public from Covid-19 remains one of our top priorities. We continue to monitor the threat posed by Covid-19 through our range of surveillance systems and genomics capabilities, which report on infection rates, hospitalisations and the risks posed by new variants.’’

Prof John Edmunds of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine said the discovery of the new BA.2.86 variant - which has been found in the UK and the US - was one reason for concern. 

Another is the large number of genetic differences compared with other Omicron subvariants.

“It is definitely concerning, there’s no question about that,” he said. “The good news is we haven’t seen it suddenly take off anywhere.”.

Edmunds said there were still many unknowns about the variant, making it difficult to assess how much of a risk it posed – including whether it would cause more severe disease than other variants in circulation.

One reason for that, he said, is that there was less data available.

“Our surveillance has been much reduced so we are slightly blinded compared to where we have been in the past,” he said. “If you compare it to where we were with Omicron, it’s really very different in terms of just the quality of our surveillance.”

How to get a test

You can no longer get free polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests from the NHS.

Instead, you can buy PCR tests from shops and pharmacies, including online.

You may still be able to get free COVID-19 rapid lateral flow tests from the NHS if you:

  • have a health condition which means you're eligible for COVID-19 treatment
  • work in healthcare or in a hospice

This, however, may be subject to change as testing is upscaled over the coming months.