LONDON (UK) – The coronavirus testing scheme in the UK shall soon extend to a wider pool of people which includes those aged above 65 appearing symptomatic, and all residents of care homes, according to British health minister Matt Hancock.
The government faced criticism over how it handled the coronavirus outbreak, at the end of which UK may come out with the highest death toll in Europe, especially due to the lack of testing capacity as compared to other countries.
Hancock announced that the government was on the right track to meet its target of 100,000 tests per day by the end of the month and it has outlined several new groups who are now eligible.
“Anyone who is working or living in a care home will be able to get access to a test whether they have symptoms, or not.”
– Matt Hancock, British Health Minister
The families of people who are symptomatic over-65s could also get tested, along with those who are travelling to work.
So far, tests had only been available to patients, frontline staff and key workers.
40 drive-through testing centres have been set up across Britain and a growing number of mobile testing centres are in place. Hancock mentioned that by the end of the week, the number of home test kits available daily would rise to 25,000 from 5,000.
Most recent data revealed that over 43,000 daily tests had been completed, Hancock said.
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field.