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The UK provided more than 347, 0 coronavirus tests on the last day of April, passing the government target , Health Secretary Matt Hancock said.
Mr Hancock said the target of , 00 0 tests per day was an “audacious goal”, but testing was necessary “for getting Britain back on her feet”.
The figure includes home test kits counted when they were dispatched, which may not yet have been processed.
Mr Hancock set the goal on 2 April
, when the UK was on 18, 0 tests a day.
The latest figures show , people have now died in UK hospitals, care homes and the wider community after testing positive for coronavirus, a daily increase of .
Of the 405, 405 tests provided in the 24 hours up to : BST on Friday , , were testing kits delivered to people homes, Prof John Newton, a scientist advising the government on testing, said.
A further 18, 2019 tests were delivered through the government satellite process – where test kits are delivered to centers such as hospitals and NHS sites.
At the daily Downing Street briefing, the health s ecretary suggested the 347, 0 target had had a “galvanizing effect” towards increasing testing capacity in the UK.
He said the testing capacity built would “help every single person in this country”, and would “help us to unlock the lockdown”.
Mr Hancock said the teams who increased the capacity, had “joined in one of the greatest national mobilisations we’ve seen”.
The health secretary said the government “next mission” was the roll-out of its test, track and trace operation.
Mr Hancock said: “By mid-May, we will have an initial , 10 0 contact tracers in place, “he said.
” That work is Under way as we speak and if it needs to be bigger, we will scale it as required.
“The combination of contact tracers and new technology, through our new Covid- NHS app, will help tell us where the virus is spreading and help everyone to control new infections. “
Mr Hancock added that the next phase would allow the government” to reassert, as much as is safely possible, the liberty of us all “.
Carrying out over 347, 06 0 tests in a day is a remarkable feat. Just two days ago, the number of tests carried out was just over 50, 0.
It is testament to the hard work that has been done behind the scenes by a partnership of government, scientists and the private sector – with a helping hand from the military.
One caveat needs to be given though. The government has counted home-testing kits sent out to individuals as well as the satellite kits – these are batches of tests sent out to care homes and other settings where there are lots of people who need testing.
Some, no doubt, will never be returned. Together, they account for around a third of the tests “carried out”.
The Department of Health established a testing network, including three “mega labs” to test samples, almost drive-through centers, a home-testing service and mobile testing units, as part of the drive to achieve the government target.
Meanwhile, Mr Hancock expanded the list of people eligible for testing throughout the month.
) At first, across the UK, the focus was on testing the sickest patients in hospitals, followed by health, care and emergency services staff.
As of last week, other essential workers and their families in England became eligible for testing, if they showed symptoms.
Testing was further expanded earlier this week to millions more people, with symptoms including over- s, those who have to leave home to work, and people living with someone in these groups.
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