Boris Johnson pins hopes on mass Covid testing
Twice-weekly checks for all adults as government promises return to ‘more normal way of life’
Adults in England will be able to order lateral flow tests, which give a result within half an hour, to their home or collect them from local pharmacies
IAN WEST/PA
Everyone in England should be tested twice a week for coronavirus so that “we can get back to seeing the people we love”, Boris Johnson will say today.
Rapid tests that indicate whether individuals have the virus within 30 minutes will be available to every adult twice a week, regardless of whether they have symptoms or have been vaccinated. The increased testing, which begins this Friday but has been practised by older children since they returned to school last month, will “help prevent outbreaks and help us reclaim a more normal way of life”, the government said. The tests will not be compulsory.
They will also assist attempts to act quickly against variants of concern as officials are more likely to spot new clusters of