If you have Covid-19 symptoms, take a lateral flow test (LFT) as soon as possible to ensure prompt access to an assessment for treatment.
Anyone eligible for Covid-19 treatments should keep a box of government-issued LFTs at home to use if they develop symptoms. If you are entitled to free tests, you can order lateral flow tests online or by calling 119. Tests are also available to purchase in pharmacies.
Anyone who tests positive for Covid-19 should not go into their renal unit or to dialysis until they have spoken to them, and should not visit their GP, pharmacy or hospital in person.
You also need to inform your kidney doctor if you test positive, so they can help you to manage the illness.
NICE have issued final guidance on the drug treatments for Covid-19. We are relieved that NICE have listened to us and others and are now recommending that Sotrovimab remains available to people who cannot take Paxlovid.
Follow NHS advice if you are managing your symptoms at home. If you live alone, ask a family member, friend or neighbour to check up on you via a telephone call, or at the doorway (not face-to-face). If you start to feel worse or more breathless, call your GP or kidney doctor. Dial 999 in an emergency if you are seriously ill.
Do not change your medications unless advised to do so by your kidney unit.
You may be asked by your clinician to monitor your oxygen levels using a pulse oximeter device if you are at home with Covid-19.
If you test positive for Covid-19, you are no longer legally required to self-isolate, however you should follow government advice for your country to try to stop the spread of the virus.
Financial support may be available in Northern Ireland for people who are losing earnings because they are self-isolating or caring for someone who has tested positive. It is no longer available in England, Scotland or Wales.
Someone in my household has tested positive for Covid-19, what should I do?
If someone in your household has symptoms or has tested positive for Covid-19, you should try to avoid being in close contact with them if you can. You should also maintain careful hygiene, in order to reduce the risk of spreading the virus.
How do I get a Covid-19 test?
Free PCR testing is no longer available and eligibility for free lateral flow tests varies across the UK. Find out if you are eligible for free lateral flow testing in the nations of the UK:
Who can access Covid-19 treatments at home?
People at the highest risk from Covid-19 are entitled to fast access to an assessment for Covid-19 treatments if they test positive for the virus. This group includes people with kidney transplants, those on dialysis and anyone with stage 4 or 5 chronic kidney disease.
The complete list, developed by an independent group on behalf of the Government, is:
- kidney transplant recipients (including those with failed transplants within the past 12 months), particularly those who have:
- received B cell depleting therapy within the past 12 months (including alemtuzumab, rituximab (anti-CD20), anti-thymocyte globulin)
- an additional substantial risk factor which would in isolation make them eligible for monoclonals or oral antivirals
- not been vaccinated prior to transplantation
- non-transplant kidney patients who have received a comparable level of immunosuppression. Please see below for a list of qualifying immunosuppressive therapies
- patients with stage 4 or 5 chronic kidney disease (an eGFR less than 30ml per min per 1.73m2) without immunosuppression
Qualifying immunosuppressive therapies:
- people who have received a B-cell depleting therapy (anti-CD20 drug for example rituximab, ocrelizumab, ofatumab, obinutuzumab) in the last 12 months
- people who have been treated with cyclophosphamide (IV or oral) in the 6 months prior to positive PCR
- people who are on biologics or small molecule JAK-inhibitors (except anti-CD20 depleting monoclonal antibodies) or who have received these therapies within the last 6 months
- people who are on corticosteroids (equivalent to greater than 10mg per day of prednisolone) for at least the 28 days prior to positive PCR
- people who are on current treatment with mycophenolate mofetil, oral tacrolimus, azathioprine/mercaptopurine (for major organ involvement such as kidney, liver and/or interstitial lung disease), methotrexate (for interstitial lung disease) and/or ciclosporin
What Covid-19 treatments might I be offered?
Once you have been assessed, your clinician may recommend an antiviral treatment (e.g. molnupiravir) to be taken orally. Alternatively, you may have to travel to a day clinic at a hospital to receive a monoclonal antibody treatment (e.g. sotrovimab). Monoclonal antibody treatments are normally given by intravenous infusion into your vein. You will be given instructions on where to get the treatment and how to get there and back safely.
Treatments such as these aim to stop Covid-19 becoming severe and to prevent hospitalisation or serious illness in those most at risk. They may also be given to people admitted to hospital with Covid-19.
Monoclonal antibody treatments (e.g. sotrovimab), which are already used for a range of other diseases, have been developed by looking at the many different types of antibodies produced in the human body following a Covid-19 infection and selecting the ones best at killing the virus. Scientists then work out how to manufacture them in the laboratory.
Antiviral medicines (e.g. molnupiravir) work by killing or preventing the growth of the virus.
NICE have issued final guidance on the Covid-19 drug treatments to be offered to people at higher risk of progressing to severe illness. NICE recommends that the following are treatment options for Covid-19 for people in the community:
- Paxlovid (also called nirmatrelvir plus ritonavir) – recommended for adults who do not need supplementary oxygen;
- Xevudy (also called sotrovimab) – recommended for people aged 12 and over, weighing at least 40kg, if they do not need supplementary oxygen and Paxlovid is unsuitable.
Unless any appeals are received, this guidance will come into effect in March 2023. Until that date prescribing recommendations will not change.
How can eligible people access treatments if they test positive for Covid-19?
Only government-supplied LFTs can be registered and used to access treatments. Tests bought privately cannot be registered, so these cannot be used to contact you. You can order LFTs online or by calling 119.
A decision on whether to provide one of the treatments will be made after carefully weighing up the risks and benefits. People in the highest risk groups will be considered for treatments if they test positive and have symptoms of Covid-19 that started in the last five days with no signs of clinical recovery. It is important that you carefully describe all of your Covid-19 symptoms to the call handler when they contact you.
You should also have a list of all medications you are currently taking (prescribed by a doctor and any medications bought from a pharmacy or shop without prescription). This is for safety reasons as some medicines can cause serious side effects when taken together. The NHS will assess you and advise which treatment, if any, is suitable for you.
If you have Covid-19 symptoms and you live in England:
- Take a government-supplied LFT as soon as you develop symptoms. Do not use the PCR tests you were sent previously, unless asked to do so by the NHS.
- Register the result of the LFT online, or by calling 119. You will need your NHS number and postcode.
- If you are in England and have not been contacted within 24 hours of registering your positive test result, contact your GP or hospital specialist, or call 111.
- If you test negative on an LFT but still have symptoms, you should test again on each of the next two days (three tests in total). Report any positive results.
If you have Covid-19 symptoms and you live in Wales:
- Take a government-supplied LFT or PCR as soon as you develop symptoms.
- Register the result of the LFT online, or by calling 119. You will need your NHS number and postcode. You do not need to register the results of the PCR because the tests are processed by the NHS, not at home.
- If you have not been contacted within 48 hours of registering your positive LFT test result or receiving your PCR result, call 111.
- If you test negative on an LFT but still have symptoms, you should test again on each of the next two days (three tests in total). Report any positive results.
If you have Covid-19 symptoms and you live in Scotland:
- Take a government-supplied LFT as soon as you develop symptoms.
- If you test positive, you should phone your health board and they will arrange an assessment for treatment.
- Phone 119 to order two PCR tests. Tell the call handler that you live in Scotland and are eligible for treatment. Two tests will arrive within 24-48 hours. You should take one of these tests as soon as it arrives, and the other five days after your treatment begins. You cannot order these tests online.
- You do not need to take these PCR tests to access treatment, but taking these tests will give the NHS more information on the virus.
- If you test negative on an LFT but still have symptoms, you should test again on each of the next two days (three tests in total). If you test positive, contact your health board.
If you have Covid-19 symptoms and you live in Northern Ireland:
- Take a government-supplied LFT as soon as you develop symptoms.
- Register the result of the LFT online or by calling 119. You will need your NHS number and your postcode.
- You will receive a text message about your lateral flow test result. If the test was positive, you will then receive another text message advising that your local Trust will be in touch. If you do not receive this text message, or you don't hear from your Trust, contact your GP who will contact the Trust on your behalf.
- If you test negative on an LFT but still have symptoms, you should test again on each of the next two days (three tests in total). Report any positive results.
Research into Covid-19 treatments for other groups
If you are not eligible for priority access to Covid-19 treatments, you may be eligible to join one of the UK studies testing the effectiveness of different treatments for Covid-19. See their websites for more information: