The developers of an app-based verification system, which enables people to film themselves taking a Covid-19 lateral flow test, are in talks about using the service for travel.
Tech start-up Certific launched the service nationwide on Wednesday (August 25), following a successful pilot at a music festival.
The service costs £14.99 and can be used at home with a test kit bought from an approved provider.
Dr Jack Kreindler, medical director and co-founder of Certific, said: “Certific has been in talks with a number of airline/airport/cruise ship companies, as our app providers a safe, fast and affordable service that travel companies can provide to their customers ahead of travel, for a more timely and convenient test and verification experience.”
He also said countries are increasingly accepting rapid antigen (lateral flow) tests for entry, “which is good because they have the benefit of being able to screen people who are highly infectious at the time; self-test lateral flow tests that people can take at home give fast results; and are far less costly than laboratory tests”.
A Certific spokesperson said destinations which accept a lateral flow test for visitors include Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the US and the Balearic and Canary islands.
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Users can buy test kits from a pharmacy or online. Certific currently verifies self-tests from Acon Flowflex and Hughes Healthcare, and will add others over time. Kits from Hughes Healthcare cost £8 for a single test or £91.25 for a box of 25.
Certific’s platform also verifies the taking of NHS test kits, which can be used for pre-event screening and workplace testing but not for travel.
Once users have bought the kit, they can carry out the test at home while the app records them. The video of the process, along with the result, is verified by Certific’s test control officers.
If the test result is negative, a certificate valid for travel and QR code is created in the app and sent to the user’s email within four hours.
Those seeing a positive result are given advice, followed by an official report and support from a medical team. All results are automatically reported to Public Health England.
Dr Kreindler said: “With our system, people have a convenient, private and quality-assured home-based experience.
“Our system independently verifies the person, process and results ensuring people can board their planes, and cross borders, safe in the knowledge they have taken the test correctly and hold a valid negative test result.”
Liis Narusk, co-founder and chief executive of Certific, said more than 25,000 people have used the service since its launch in February.
She said: “We’re decentralising the testing experience for users. It means that money and time is saved on needing to create and maintain testing centres, along with the time and costs needed to staff them, and the cost to the user for our verification service is only £14.99.
“There are some providers offering verification services in real-time over video call, but this approach is impossible to do at scale.”
As well as travel, Certific said the service could be used in other settings, such as large-scale sporting, cultural and music events.
Photos and videos are deleted within three months or sooner if a user requests it.