Coronavirus testing has led to rationing across UK

Prioritising coronavirus testing in high-risk areas has led to rationing in other places, with reports that some people with symptoms are being asked to drive more than 100 miles for a swab.

As the government unveiled a £500 million fund to trial a quicker, 20-minute saliva test, ministers have said that areas with fewer coronavirus cases have had their testing capacity reduced in order to cope with outbreaks elsewhere.

However, public health experts have warned that this could miss the start of new spikes.

It has been revealed that people living in London showing symptoms of coronavirus have been asked to travel between 50 and 135 miles away, including to testing sites in Cardiff and the Isle of Wight.

Equally, a postcode in Devon was directed to a testing centre 109 miles away in Carmarthen. The distance calculation from the government website appear to have been calculated as the crow flies, rather than being a true reflection of how long it would take to drive. According to Google Maps, the Devon to Carmarthen route was actually a 206-mile drive.

Dr Stephen Baker, from the University of Cambridge, said this was a ‘pragmatic move from the government to focus resources where they are most needed’, but the strategy could become a problem if more cases developed outside the current areas of concern.