Guidance

How to report SARS-CoV-2 and influenza A+B antigen combo rapid test results in adult social care homes in South East England

Published 4 September 2025

These tests are only available to care homes in the South East Region of England. Care homes in other regions should follow their usual outbreak reporting procedures.

If you are a care home in the South East Region and one or more residents has tested positive for flu, telephone the South East Health Protection Team on 0344 225 3861.

If you are a care home in the South East Region and you think there is a respiratory outbreak but do not have any combo rapid tests, telephone the South East Health Protection Team on 0344 225 3861.

What you will need

Before you start you will need: 

• your Care Quality Commission (CQC) location ID for your care home
• the date and time the test was taken (keep a record of the date and time the test was taken in line with your data protection policies)
• a copy of the combo rapid test reporting spreadsheet (always download the latest version and do not add any sheets, rows or columns to the downloaded spreadsheet) – save the spreadsheet using your CQC location ID for your care home, the name of your care home and the date the test was taken as the file name, for example “1-12345678910_Care home name_DDMMYYYY”
• name, address and postcode of your care home
• the name, date of birth, sex, ethnic group and NHS number of your residents who have been tested
• the date symptoms started in the residents who have been tested
• the test results for COVID-19, flu A and flu B (positive, negative or void)

Reporting test results

1. Fill out the required details for your residents in the combo rapid test reporting spreadsheet, saved using the CQC location ID for your care home and the date the test was taken as the file name – for example 1-12345678910_Care home name_DDMMYYYY.  Start typing the name of your care home to find it in the dropdown list. This will automatically add the details of your care home to the spreadsheet. Do not copy and paste information into the spreadsheet.
2. Open the Egress Workspace link to upload your spreadsheet.
3. Enter your email address and click ‘Verify’. You will receive a verification code.
4. Enter the code and then click ‘Verify the code’.
5. A page will open with ‘A file has been requested from you’. Click on ‘Select files’ and choose the saved reporting spreadsheet that you wish to upload.
6. Click ‘Upload files’ to complete the reporting process.
7. A further 5 combo rapid tests will then be sent to your care home. These may take around one week to arrive.

If you are having difficulty reporting test results for your residents

Make sure information has not been copied and pasted into the spreadsheet.

Use the pre-populated drop-down lists where available, as manual entries in these boxes can cause errors.

The status column indicates whether there is any missing mandatory data or if the spreadsheet is ready for upload.

When populating the spreadsheet, ensure it:

• is complete and accurate for all residents with test results being reported
• is in the correct Excel file format (.xlsx)
• does not contain any extra sheets, rows or columns, as this may impact the data upload

If you are having difficulty uploading the spreadsheet

Make sure your spreadsheet is correctly named with your CQC location ID for your care home, the name of your care home and the date the test was taken as the file name, for example “1-12345678910_Care home name_DDMMYYYY”.

The Egress Workspace system is a one-time operation. Follow the registration upload process each time you register your test results.

When entering your email address or the verification code onto the Egress Workspace system, be careful not to press the space bar after entering the last digit, as the system may think this is an extra digit and produce an error message.

Using cut and paste to enter details into the email address and verification pages can result in errors.

There is further information on managing outbreaks of acute respiratory infection in adult social care in this guidance: Infection prevention and control (IPC) in adult social care: acute respiratory infection.

How we use personal data

To find out how we use your resident’s data when you report their combo rapid test result, read the UKHSA privacy notice.

Flowchart for using combo rapid tests

Text version of flowchart for using combo rapid tests

Only use the combo rapid tests when there is an outbreak of acute respiratory infection (ARI). An outbreak is 2 or more linked residents who develop symptoms of ARI within 5 days of each other. This means that one resident probably caught it from another resident in the care home.

Test up to a maximum of 5 linked residents with the most recent symptoms.

If all residents have tested negative for COVID-19 and flu A/B:

Seek medical advice if necessary.

Follow infection control and outbreak control advice and guidance. To get an email with the guidance, email SE.AcuteResponse@ukhsa.gov.uk.

Continue to check residents for respiratory symptoms – test unwell residents with NHS COVID-19 LFD tests if they are eligible for COVID-19 treatments.

If one or more residents has tested positive for COVID-19:

Seek medical advice if necessary.

Arrange an assessment for the residents who are eligible for COVID-19 treatments.

Follow infection control and outbreak control advice and guidance. To get an email with the guidance, email SE.AcuteResponse@ukhsa.gov.uk.

Continue to check other residents for respiratory symptoms. Test unwell residents with NHS COVID-19 tests if they are eligible for COVID-19 treatments (there is no need to test other residents with symptoms who are not eligible for COVID-19 treatments as the cause of the outbreak has been identified).

If at least one resident has tested positive for flu A or flu B:

Telephone the South East Health Protection Team on 0344 225 3861 so they can help you to get antiviral medication for your residents.

Follow infection control and outbreak control advice and guidance.

Check other residents for symptoms of flu (for example, fever and cough). If you have a confirmed flu outbreak, any other residents who later develop symptoms will need to be assessed for antiviral medication by their healthcare provider (there is no need for further combo rapid testing).

Continue to test residents with new symptoms using NHS COVID-19 tests if they are eligible for COVID-19 treatments.

If at least one resident has tested positive for flu and at least one resident has tested positive for COVID-19 (or one resident has tested positive for both):

Telephone the South East Health Protection Team 0344 225 3861 so they can help you to get antiviral medication for your residents.

Arrange an assessment for the residents who are eligible for COVID-19 treatments and have tested positive for COVID-19.

Follow infection control and outbreak control advice and guidance.

Check other residents for symptoms of flu (for example, fever and cough) – if you have a confirmed flu outbreak, any other residents who later develop symptoms will need to be assessed for antiviral medication by healthcare provider (there is no need for further combo rapid testing).

Continue to test residents with new symptoms, who are eligible for COVID-19 treatments, with the NHS COVID-19 tests.