UK says rapid tests help accelerate 500,000 tests a day target

Britain is on track to deliver half a million COVID tests a day by the end of October and new 90-minute tests will allow the government to accelerate that target, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Monday.

Britain is on track to deliver half a million COVID tests a day by the end of October and new 90-minute tests will allow the government to accelerate that target, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Monday. Millions of COVID-19 tests able to detect the virus within 90 minutes will be rolled out to British hospitals, care homes and laboratories to boost capacity in the coming months, Hancock said.

They will comprise 5.8 million tests using DNA and 450,000 swab tests. "We are on track to deliver half a million tests a day by the end of October but new technologies like these two will help us to accelerate that," Hancock said.