Britain plans to bring in regular, population-wide testing for Covid-19 so it can suppress the spread of the virus and ease restrictions that have crippled its economy without triggering a second wave in one of the worst-hit countries in the world.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the government was trialing a range of new, faster tests that can give instant results and hoped to roll them out towards the end of the year.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government has been criticised by political opponents and health experts for being too slow to go into lockdown and in rolling out testing to know how far the virus had spread.