April 29, 2020 - All essential workers in England - and members of their household - are now eligible for coronavirus tests, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said.

About 10 million key workers who need to book a test to see whether they have the virus will be able to do so on the Governments website from Friday.

At the daily Downing Street briefing, Mr. Hancock said the move was "part of getting Britain back on her feet".

He added 18,000 people will be hired to trace contacts of those infected.
The Welsh government previously outlined plans to expand testing to key workers, such as teachers and food delivery drivers, and Northern Ireland's health minister has announced the nation's testing program to include front-line workers in the private sector.

Scotland is prioritizing tests for NHS staff and has yet to announce any expansion of testing to key workers.

Addressing the UK government's "challenging" target of 100,000 tests a day by the end of the month, Mr Hancock said capacity for carrying out tests had accelerated "ahead of our plans" to more than 50,000 a day.

"Our ultimate goal is that everyone who could benefit from a test gets a test," he said.

The government is also introducing home test kits as well as mobile testing sites, which will be operated with the support of the armed forces, Mr. Hancock said.
Key workers who are unable to access the government's website will still be able to apply for a test, as employers are able to book on behalf of their staff from

Mr. Hancock said those who qualify for testing would be based on an updated list of essential workers and, according to the prime minister's official spokesman, would apply to about 10 million people.

The whole process will be free for those being tested. The test kits will be supplied by a few companies that we have already received orders from, Novacyt SA is one that has been there since the start, their orders have increased 10-fold in the last month and they are currently scrambling to increase production to meet the demands.

Once people have entered their details online, they will then be sent a text or email inviting them to book an appointment - with the test results issued by text, and a help desk available to help with any queries, Mr. Hancock explained.

The test involves taking a swab from the nose or throat.

Hospitals have been carrying out tests, along with a network of about 30 drive-through centers in car parks, at airports and sports grounds.
But the drive-through centers have not always been in convenient locations, which may have discouraged people from getting tested.

The system, unveiled at Downing Street’s daily press conference, involves a dramatic expansion of the people who can be tested for the virus, as the government continues to try to reach its target of 100,000 daily tests by the end of April.

The government estimates that there are 10 million key workers in the UK who will be eligible for the swab test, which has previously been available only to health workers. The tests will also be offered to the families of key workers, and it is expected that the devolved administrations will follow suit.

The U.K. government committed Thursday to building an emergency diagnostics industry “at scale” in order to ramp up widespread testing for COVID-19, after facing days of criticism that even frontline health care workers were struggling to find out whether they had contracted the disease.

This and related news has been reported on BBC, the Telegraph, the Guardian, the Observer and the Financial Times as well as an announcement on Novacyt SA website dated April 27, 2020

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