>>>14020761, >>14020767 Boris Johnson admits the Covid Test is only 7% accurate. Sauce to come
Original sauce, September 2020:
Coronavirus testing at airports may give a "false sense of security", Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said, after suggestions it could be used to cut quarantine times for travellers.
Mr Johnson said testing on arrival would only identify 7% of virus cases.
It comes after a senior Tory MP backed calls from the struggling aviation sector to introduce airport testing.
Former Brexit Secretary David Davis said testing could cut quarantine times to "less than five days".
But speaking during a visit to Solihull, the prime minister rejected Mr Davis's comments, saying: "The quarantine system that we have has got to be an important part of our repertoire, of our toolbox, in fighting Covid."
The BBC has been told a cabinet decision on whether to introduce airport testing has been repeatedly postponed and now may never happen.
Mr Johnson said while he understood "the difficulties" the airline industry was facing, "93% of the time you could have a real false sense of security, a false sense of confidence when you arrive and take a test".
The government said that percentage was based on modelling by Public Health England.*
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-54031912
*
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/909382/s0544-phe-double-testing-travellers-170620-sage-42.pdf