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Britain might have hit its daily target of carrying out 100,000 COVID-19 tests a day, or will come close, putting in place the beginnings of a network to test, track and trace people through the pandemic, housing minister Robert Jenrick said on Friday.
After weeks of being criticised for moving too slowly on testing for the novel coronavirus, health minister Matt Hancock set the target of 100,000 tests a day by the end of April, increasing the number of drive-through testing sites and sending out home tests to a wider number of eligible people.
With Prime Minister Boris Johnson saying Britain had passed through the coronavirus peak, a mass testing programme to gauge the spread of the virus through the population is seen as key to any easing of the social distancing measures that have all but shut down the economy and forced millions to stay at home.
“I don’t have the figures yet, they’ll be published later today. But it looks like we’ll either meet the target or come close so we will have very significantly increased the amount of testing in this country,” he told BBC TV.
“It’s an important stepping stone. We’ve now built the beginnings of the network that we’ll need of testing, tracking and tracing for the next phase of fighting the virus.”
Johnson and his government have been criticised not only for not quickly stepping up testing, but also for moving slowly on bringing in a lockdown and for a lack of protective equipment for health workers.
(REUTERS)
