Falkland Islands Government
COVID-19: Information and Guidance

19 January 2021

The Falkland Islands Government introduces Covid-19 lateral flow testing

Today, ExCo approved the use of lateral flow testing as part of the Falkland Islands Government’s Covid-19 swabbing programme. This testing will now be incorporated alongside existing PCR swabbing, to enhance our overall ability to monitor and protect our population from the virus.

What are the benefits?

  • Lateral flow tests have a more rapid turnaround time than a PCR test
  • Lateral flow tests do not require laboratory processing and this will translate to an average reduction of 531 fewer laboratory tests each month, which means staff workloads will be eased and more routine work will start to resume
  • Lateral flow tests can be provided to people quarantining outside of Stanley for home use, whereas PCR testing cannot be offered to those in Camp or the Outer Islands, which means we will have a more complete picture as to where the virus is present within the Falkland Islands

What is changing?

  • People will still be required to undertake 14 days of quarantine and will be encouraged to take part in the surveillance swabbing regime; the first two swabs will be taken via a lateral flow test, and the final swab on day 13 will be tested via the PCR process – a belts and braces approach
  • Anyone testing positive for Covid-19 via a lateral flow test in Stanley will be given a PCR test to confirm the result and, if the result is positive, all subsequent tests will be carried out using the PCR process
  • People quarantining in Camp will be given six tests so that they can test themselves three times and have some scope to repeat the test if it fails – people will have full written instructions on how to conduct the test and will also be supported by a health professional over the telephone

There has been some media speculation concerning the accuracy of lateral flow testing, however clinical evaluations by Public Health England, have shown that lateral flow tests are highly reliable, sensitive and accurate. Problems have arisen where people using the kits to self-test have not submitted a good quality sample, resulting in inaccuracies.

In the Falkland Islands, everyone in Stanley will continue to have their swabbing administered by a clinician and those quarantining in Camp will be given detailed instructions ad well as the support of a healthcare specialist over the telephone, to ensure that self-testing can be completed correctly.

KEMH has now taken delivery of 3,000 lateral flow tests and will be using these kits to administer two thirds of its quarantine surveillance swabbing programme. The brand we are using is Innova and the specificity of these tests has been determined to be 99.68%.