All essential workers in England - and members of their household - are now eligible for coronavirus tests, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said.

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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52401398

All essential workers in England - and members of their household - are now eligible for coronavirus tests, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said.

Around 10 million key workers who need to book a test will be able to do so on the government's website from Friday.

At the daily Downing Street briefing, Mr Hancock said the move was "part of getting Britain back on her feet".

He added 18,000 people will be hired in the UK to trace the contacts of those who are infected.

The Welsh government had previously announced plans to expand testing to key workers, such as teachers and food delivery drivers, and Northern Ireland's health minister has announced the nation's testing programme is being expanded to include front-line workers in the private sector.

Scotland is prioritising tests for NHS staff and has yet to announce any expansion of testing to key workers.

"Our ultimate goal is that everyone who could benefit from a test gets a test," he said.

The government is also introducing home test kits as well as mobile testing sites, which will be operated with the support of the armed forces, Mr Hancock said.

Key workers who are unable to access the government's website will still be able to apply for a test, as employers are able to book on behalf of their staff from Thursday.

Mr Hancock said those who qualify as essential workers will be based on criteria for deciding whose children can still attend school and apply to around 10 million people, not including family members, according to the PM's official spokesman.

The whole process will be free for those being tested.

Once people have entered their details online they will then be sent a text or email inviting them to book an appointment - with the test results issued by text, and a help desk available to help with any queries, Mr Hancock explained.

Hospitals have been carrying out tests, along with a network of about 30 drive-through centres in car parks, at airports and sports grounds.

But the drive-through centres have not always been in convenient locations, which may have discouraged people from getting tested, BBC health correspondent Nick Triggle said.

Mr Hancock also announced steps that were being taken to help establish a network of contact tracers that will be used when lockdown is lifted, as he said a process of "test, track and trace" would be "vital" to stop a second peak of the virus.

He said infrastructure will be put in place so that contact tracing can be rolled out on a "large scale".

On testing, he added that capacity had reached 51,000 per day, although Thursday's figures showed only 23,560 tests were carried out - which is still far short of the 100,000 daily target.

Figures released by the Department for Health and Social Care on Thursday showed a further 616 people have died with the virus in UK hospitals, bringing the total number of deaths to 18,738.

An analysis of the published figures by the BBC has confirmed that at least 103 health workers have now died with coronavirus, 65 of whom were black, Asian or from a minority ethnic background.


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