One in eight have now been tested for coronavirus

One in eight people have now received a coronavirus test at least once since the launch of NHS Test and Trace on 28 May.

Releasing the figures, the Department of Health and Social Care said that, with close to 500 testing sites now operational across the UK, people with coronavirus symptoms are now travelling shorter distances to get tested, with the median distance just 4.3 miles, down from 5.2 miles the previous week.

According to the government, he median time taken to receive a result from taking a test in person is now 25 to 29 hours, with 70.6 per cent of results received the day after they were taken, compared to 52.9 per cent in the previous week. The number of people testing positive has also increased.

The government has a target of 500,000 tests a day by the end of October.

Baroness Dido Harding said: “One in eight people in England have now received a test at least once and with nearly 500 testing sites across the UK, the median distance to a test site is now just 4.3 miles. These are achievements in which everyone involved can be immensely proud.

“We are continuing to work tirelessly to increase capacity and make tests as accessible as possible. Our new lab partnership with Birmingham University is another example of how the public, private and academic sectors are working together to meet our target of 500,000 test capacity a day. In the meantime, NHS Test and Trace has now reached more than half a million people and advised them to self-isolate – and in the past week more than 14 million people have downloaded the new Covid-19 app, all of which will help break the chains of transmission.”