UK must cut spending on COVID testing, Johnson says

A woman wearing a face mask walks through the centre of Liverpool
A woman wearing a face mask walks through the centre of Liverpool, Britain, November 29, 2021. REUTERS/Phil Noble/File Photo

LONDON, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Britain wants to retain the capability to spot new coronavirus variants but it must stop spending so heavily on free testing as cases and fatalities fall, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Sunday.

Johnson will set out plans this week for the country to "live with COVID" amid suggestions that free coronavirus testing could be stopped, and some health studies halted.

Asked by the BBC how the country would spot the arrival of new variants, Johnson said: "I want to make sure that we have capability to spot stuff and to snap back up as fast as we need to," he said.

"We need resilience ... but for instance, on testing. We don't need to keep spending at a rate of 2 billion pounds ($2.7 billion) a month, which is what we were doing in January."

($1 = 0.7358 pounds)

Reporting by Kate Holton; editing by Guy Faulconbridge

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