The government now has the capacity to test around 12,750 people a day for coronavirus - but official figures show that only around 8,000 tests are carried out each day.
The prime minister repeatedly promised that testing would be ramped up throughout March and gave a target of 10,000 tests a day.
But despite testing capacity reaching nearly 13,000, the highest number of tests in one day has only reached 9,793. In the past week, an average of just over 8,000 tests have been carried out each day: A total of 152,979 Covid-19 tests have been carried out in the UK to date.
The government is facing increasing pressure to ensure that frontline NHS staff are prioritised for testing as hospitals across the UK face staff shortages due to staff