SHAMELESS Covid test hoarders have taken to social media to show off their stockpiled kits before a £5 fee for swabs is introduced on April 1.
The Government website has run out of tests altogether as Brits rush to stock up, with packs unavailable online and via the 119 phone line.
People across the nation face spending between £20 and £25 on a box of seven within six weeks after free testing – which costs the taxpayer £2billion a month – is halted under the 'Living with Covid' plan.
Officials have already started secretly rationing, limiting orders to one pack in 72 hours rather than every 24 hours, the Daily Mail reports.
And some have proudly shared photos of their haul – while others suggested they could sell the kits online themselves.
One person, who has stockpiled more than 25 packs, tweeted: "When the Government wants to start charging for lateral flow tests.
"I've come fully prepared so I don't run out of Covid tests."
Academic Dan Rebellato shared an image of his "absurd tower" of boxes.
"Both of us working in education, we test very regularly – to protect ourselves and our students," he said.
"I knew they’d scrap the free testing so have been ordering test packs whenever I remember."
What will change on Freedom Day:
- From this from Thursday, February 24, anyone who tests positive for Covid will not be forced to self-isolate
- Covid sick-pay will also come to an end – although it will remain in place for one more month, ending in March
- Contact tracing will also end this week
- Free lateral flow and PCR tests will end on April 1
- Tests for schoolchildren have also been binned
- However, passenger locator forms are set to stay. They will be reviewed in a few weeks
The worried mum of a six-month-old then replied with with an image of 10 kits, before another user said: "One of my friends from another university has nearly a dozen packs at home.
"Is this why I can’t find any kits in London?"
And a second said: "Yes, absurd tower given that others who are severely immunosuppressed, or those that live with them, can't get hold of packs at the moment."
A third wrote: "Rather than being proud of your stash, you should feel ashamed."
Another tweeter took to the site to write: "If people order a load of free lateral flow tests now, then once it's April 1 they can sell them cheaper than the Government, at least the money won't be going to them."
It comes as Boris Johnson axed self-isolation laws under a new post-virus era that begins this Thursday.
He finally ripped up all restrictions in a dramatic address to the nation last night, during which he hailed Britain's supercharged jabs rollout for wrestling down infections and deaths.
The £500 self-isolation payments will end on Thursday, while the £96 sick pay handout for Covid-stricken Brits will be dropped on March 24.
Under the scheme, the free testing regime will be wound down, except for the most vulnerable.
Details of who gets them will be decided later by the UK Health Security Agency.
FREE TESTS SCRAPPED
Bringing down the curtain on months of draconian curbs, the PM told MPs yesterday: "It is time that we got our confidence back. We don't need laws to compel people to be considerate to others.
"We can rely on that sense of responsibility towards one another by providing practical advice in the knowledge that people will follow it to protect their loved ones."
He also defended his decision to charge Brits for tests.
"It's only because we know Omicron is less severe that testing for it, on the colossal scale that we've been doing, is much less important and less valuable in preventing serious illness," he said.
"We should be proud that the UK has established the biggest testing programme per person of any large country. This came at vast cost.
"The test, trace and isolation budget in 2020-21 exceeded the entire budget of the Home Office.
"It cost a further £15.7bn in this financial year, and £2bn in January alone at the height of the Omicron wave.
"We must now scale this back."
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From today, guidance for staff and students in most educational settings to test twice weekly will also be removed.
It was initially suggested the cost of a lateral flow could soar to £30, although it's now believed the cap will be set at between £3 and £5 per test.
High-street PCR tests used for travelling currently cost around £65, or £85 for in-store testing. Private clinics charge around £200.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid had made a bid for more funding to maintain testing capacity, and called for a slower timetable for ending all restrictions.
This was blocked by Mr Johnson and Rishi Sunak.
The Department for Health is said to have asked for £5billion a year, but No10 made clear that the costs will be footed from within the existing budget.
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Labour leader Keir Starmer blasted the strategy as "half-baked".
He warned scrapping free tests was like substituting a "star defender" before the football match is won.
Meanwhile, a decision on another booster for the most vulnerable this spring is believed to be imminent.
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