Some half a million people in Engand are to be offered regular coronavirus testing in a pilot scheme hailed as having the potential to be a "powerful new weapon" in the fight against the disease.
All residents and workers in Liverpool will be offered repeat testing whether or not they have symptoms, the UK Department of Health said.
The approach will see the city, which has a population of 498,042, become the first place to trial a wider testing scheme in England from Friday.
The mass testing pilot, which will see 2,000 military personnel deployed to help with the logistics, will come into effect a day after new national lockdown measures are due to take hold across England.