Government misses 100,000 tests target for fourth day running despite Boris Johnson's pledge for double by end of month

Ewan Somerville6 May 2020
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The Government has failed to meet its 100,000 coronavirus daily testing target for the fourth day in a row, with the latest rate falling 30,000 short.

Boris Johnson pledged to double the UK’s tests per day to 200,000 “by the end of the month” on Wednesday, calling it “absolutely critical’ to economic survival following lockdown.

"The ambition clearly is to get up to 200,000 a day by the end of this month and then to go even higher," he told MPs.

But official figures show that current daily levels have hit their lowest level for days, standing at 69,463 in the 24 hours to 9am on Wednesday.

Matt Hancock claimed the Government had met the 100,000 a day target
Sky News

The Health Secretary claimed on May 1 that ministers’ initial target of 100,000 tests a day by the end of April had been met.

It then emerged that some 40,000 of the 122,000 tests cited by Matt Hancock had been posted but not fully carried out. Levels have fallen below 100,000 every day since.

Labour shadow health secretary Jon Ashworth was quick to hit out at the "downward trajectory".

"Ministers need to explain why they are failing to deliver the testing promised," he said.

Ministers have been under fire over shortages in testing levels
AFP via Getty Images

Earlier, Mr Johnson used his return to the Commons following his Covid-19 recovery and his son's birth to set out the "ambition" to double testing levels.

"The ambition clearly is to get up to 200,000 a day by the end of this month and then to go even higher," he said.

But Downing Street reneged on the promise, insisting it was an "operational target to have the capacity across all of the testing pillars to do 200,000 tests a day".

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer told Mr Johnson that "just having a target isn't a strategy" and vowed to hold his feet to fire over the target.

The PM admitted the continued reported shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) on the front line was “enraging” but that Downing Street now had a “massive plan to ramp up domestic supply”.

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He also said he “bitterly regrets” the crisis in care homes, where staff have hit out at a lack of testing and PPE. The latest figures show that nursing home fatalities are continuing to rise, standing at 2,794 in the week to April 24, despite deaths in all settings beginning to fall.

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