A GP insists those who test positive for Covid via rapid testing must adhere to isolation rules - even though the results are just 50% reliable.

Dr Julian Spinks, vice chairman of the Kent Local Medical Committee, says the lateral technology - used at mass testing sites - is throwing up a number of false results.

The devices can deliver a result in 20 minutes, and the speedy turnaround is set to significantly boost the UK’s testing capacity.

But scientists and doctors have questioned the accuracy and remain sceptical despite the regulator’s approval.

Some argue the public are being misled and fear the mass testing at schools starting this week will be unreliable.

But Medway-based Dr Spinks has reiterated to those who believe they are the subject of a false test that they must follow the isolation rules.

"The chance of having a false positive test result very much depends the type of test," he said.

"The PCR tests are more accurate - they are the ones we started with that have to go away to a lab and you wait a day or two for the results.

"And the lateral flow tests where you get the results back within an hour are less accurate and they are likely to give false positive.

"The recent suggestion from a study was that as many as half of the results could be a false positive.

"Having said that, you still have to treat it like it's a true positive.

"You have to remember that a third of people who have Covid are asymptomatic - they have no symptoms whatsoever and feel perfectly well.

Dr Julian Spinks discusses the lateral test technology

"You can't tell which is which and there is this danger if you assume it's a false positive you will take actions which put other people at risk."

Unlike the PCR test, the faster lateral test does not amplify the virus and struggles identify lower levels of infection.

As for the antibody test, it cannot survey for the virus itself.

Dr Spinks said: "The antibody tests seemed to have a lot of promise a few months ago but that hasn't really panned out. Yet again, it's not a 100% test.

"There are people who have Covid who don't develop antibodies and likewise they can take a bit of time after you've caught it.

"These days we are mostly using this for monitoring to see what population has had the virus rather than test for the virus itself.

"It's restricted to only a number of people like care home workers, so unfortunately it's not a test you can get to confirm or deny an original test."

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