Coronavirus news – live: ‘Deeply worrying’ rise in cases in England and Portugal added to travel quarantine list for Wales
The government has committed £500m in support of trials of a 20-minute Covid-19 test in the hope of helping Britain to “get back to a more normal way of life”.
Money will go towards launching a new community-wide repeat population testing trial in Salford, Greater Manchester, while existing trials in Southampton and Hampshire, using a no-swab saliva test and a rapid 20-minute test, will also be expanded through the new funding.
It comes as scientists and health campaigners condemned the US government for refusing to join the World Health Organisation’s global initiative which aims to provide countries with access to safe and effective vaccines.