Michael Gove says 'UK must go further, faster' in rolling out coronavirus tests

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Michael Gove: PA
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Michael Gove: PA

Michael Gove has said the UK "must go further, faster" to increase the ability to carry out coronavirus tests.

The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster told the Downing Street press conference on Tuesday that testing across the UK has increased, but said it needs to go further.

He said: “More NHS staff are returning to the frontline, and more testing is taking place to help those self-isolating come back, and to protect those working so hard in our hospitals and in social care.

“But while the rate of testing is increasing, we must go further, faster.”

He said a “critical constraint” on the ability to rapidly increase testing capacity is the availability of the chemical reagents, but that Boris Johnson and Matt Hancock were working with companies worldwide to ensure the UK gets the material needed to increase tests “of all kind”.

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