Waiting times for coronavirus test results have exploded over the Christmas period as the virus surges in England. People are once again waiting more than three days (74 hours) for results from home testing kits - up from 40 hours two weeks earlier and the highest since October.
And care home residents are waiting an average of 68 hours for “satellite” test kit results, up from 44 hours two weeks earlier.
Waiting times for regional, local and mobile testing kit results also all jumped up in the week of December 17-23. It comes as alarm bells ring over a record 232,169 people testing positive for coronavirus in that single week - up 33% on the week before.