Coronavirus: Concerns over lateral flow tests destined for schools after ‘poor performance’ at a university

The best of Voices delivered to your inbox every week - from controversial columns to expert analysis Sign up for our free weekly Voices newsletter for expert opinion and columns Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A professor has raised concerns over the planned use of lateral flow devices to test pupils in schools after “poor performance” during mass testing at a university. Prof Deeks told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme it was “concerning” that only a couple of cases were found with these tests - which turn around results within minutes - out of around 7,100 students who came forward for asymptomatic testing before Christmas at the university. When pressed on what this would mean for schools preparing to use the devices in January, Prof Deeks said: “We would be missing people who've got Covid.” He said: “The worst thing is actually the proposal that students when they're in a class where one child has had Covid, they stay in the school and are tested with this test until they go positive because inevitably there'll be students left in that class who've become infectious and infect others. “Anyone who tested positive with a lateral flow test during the university testing earlier this month would have been asked to get a confirmatory PCR test.” The Department for Education have been approached for comment.