UK Government Hits Target Of 100,000 Daily Coronavirus Tests By End Of April

The UK government has hit its target of reaching a daily coronavirus testing capacity of 100,000 by the end of April.

PA

In the 24 hours up to 9am on 1 May, there were 122,347 tests in the UK, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said at the daily coronavirus briefing today (Friday 1 May).

Hancock said it was an 'audacious target' and that 'real progress' was now being made.

He said: "This unprecedented expansion in British testing capability is an incredible achievement, but it is not my achievement, it is a national achievement. Everybody worked together with grit and determination to reach a shared goal.

"When things went wrong, which they did every single day, believe me, we didn't ask who we could blame but how we could fix it."

He added that the Government would be building on testing with tracking and tracing which will enable lockdown measures to be implemented 'with much more precision'.

He said: "Our goal must be freedom. We will not lift measures until it is safe to do so, but we care about the restoration of social freedom and economic freedom.

"But for now, we must retain spirit and resolve that has had such impact so far."

Hancock also said a total of 27,510 people had died in hospitals, care homes and the wider community after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK as of 5pm on Thursday, up by 739 from 26,771 the day before.

In yesterday's briefing, Boris Johnson said he would publish a 'comprehensive plan' for leaving lockdown next week.

The plan will cover how the economy will be restarted, how children will return to schools and how people will get back to work.

Johnson said the plan would be 'guided by science' and will focus on 'how we can continue to suppress disease and at same time restart the economy'.

The Prime Minister also said the UK is 'past the peak' in the fight against coronavirus.

He said: "For the first time we are past the peak of this disease and we are on the downward slope."

Topics: UK News, Coronavirus, Politics

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey