Name: Government claims victory on 100k coronavirus test target amid row over counting
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Government claims victory on 100k coronavirus test target amid row over counting

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Matt Hancock announced 122,347 in the 24 hours to 9am today - smashing the 100k a day target - but admitted some tests were counted when they were posted outVideo Unavailable The government claims to have smashed its target of 100,000 tests a day - but a row has erupted over how the tests were counted. Matt Hancock announced 122,347 tests were provided in the 24 hours to 9am on May 1st. But tens of thousands of these tests are at-home tests which have been delivered, but haven't yet been returned. Announcing the figure, Mr Hancock said: "I knew it was an audacious goal but we needed an audacious goal because testing is so important for getting Britain back on her feet.” He added: “This unprecedented expansion in British testing capability is an incredible achievement." The Department of Health admitted ‘at home’ tests, have been counted at the point where they are delivered by courier - not when they are returned for analysis. Previous ‘in person’ testing - performed in hospitals, at drive-through sites and by mobile testing teams - are counted later in the process, when they are analysed by lab technicians. It’s led to accusations that ministers are seeking to ‘move the goalposts’ in time to hit the 100,000 target.It’s unclear how many of the at home tests, which the government began delivering last weekend, have been returned. But today's figure includes 27,497 tests which were counted when they were delivered to patients. A further 12,872 were tests provided to "satellite centres" - kits sent to makeshift centres in places like hospitals that have "a particularly urgent or significant need." As recently as last night said the 100,000 target was for tests "carried out". He said: "901,905 tests for coronavirus have now been carried out in the UK, including 81,611 tests yesterday". And in a tweet on April 5, the government pledged to "test 100,000 people a day by the end of this month." But Downing Street said the Prime Minister "absolutely" considered the target had been met. And a Department of Health source insisted at home tests had always been counted this way, and it hadn’t changed. The department argue the government should be judged on the parts of the process it has control over - and they can’t force patients to return tests quickly. Mr Hancock praised delivery companies for their help getting tests out to people. When the at-home tests were announced, the government said they would be delivered by Amazon and Royal Mail. Mr Hancock thanked "logistic companies like the Royal Mail and Yodel - who were brilliant this week and got us out of a real hole this week." Mr Hancock said things went wrong “every day, believe me” and thanked his team for “toiling tirelessly night and day”. When something went wrong, he said, “we didn’t ask who we could blame. We asked how we could fix it.” Hesaid the next phase of “test, track and trace” would allow lockdown measures to be eased in some ways. “For now we’re working together to stay home - we’re impinging on the freedom of all for the safety of all,” he said. But the next phase will “allow us to target the measures that are needed with much more precision” - and “reassert, as much as is safely possible, the liberty of us all.” Public Health England testing chief Prof John Newton insisted the initial pace of testing has “not kept us in lockdown a day longer”. And he hailed the 100,000-a-day target - which has raised capacity for where it’ll need to be for the test, track and trace programme. “We now have a very substantial and flexible testing capability in the UK,” he said. “The testing capability we’ve built in the next few weeks is world leading in its scale and sophistication.” accused ministers of 'moving the goalposts'. Shadow Health Minister Justin Madders said: “We want the Government’s test, isolate and trace strategy to succeed and welcomed expanding who was eligible to get a test, but counting a test put in the post is not the same as a conducted test and getting results. “Ministers should focus on making sure these tests are administered effectively rather than moving the goalposts to hit their own arbitrary target. “Government should urgently clarify its position at tonight’s press conference.” Earlier, Labour leader Keir&nbsp;Starmer&nbsp;renewed his criticism of the prime minister in an interview with the Evening Standard newspaper, saying Johnson had been "slow, slow at every turn". He called for testing to be ramped up to a quarter of a million tests every 24 hours and for 50,000 contact tracers to be deployed to keep the nation safe. Britain carried out more than 81,000 tests on Wednesday, a leap from early last month when only 10,000 people were being tested in what the country's national testing strategy coordinator, John Newton, called "an extraordinary achievement".Read moreCoronavirus outbreak"As we move to the next phase the requirement for testing will change and we can now respond quickly with the testing capability needed," he said in a blog on Thursday. "Our ultimate goal is that anyone who needs a test should have one ... Testing will help to keep it (the infection rate) under control once we are out, but lack of testing has not kept us in lockdown a day longer."Follow MORE ON

Matt Hancock announced 122,347 in the 24 hours to 9am today - smashing the 100k a day target - but admitted some tests were counted when they were posted outVideo Unavailable The government claims to have smashed its target of 100,000 tests a day - but a row has erupted over how the tests were counted. Matt Hancock announced 122,347 tests were provided in the 24 hours to 9am on May 1st. But tens of thousands of these tests are at-home tests which have been delivered, but haven't yet been returned. Announcing the figure, Mr Hancock said: "I knew it was an audacious goal but we needed an...

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Government claims victory on 100k coronavirus test target amid row over counting

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