Coronavirus daily tests fall to 76,496 just two days after 100,000 target met

'Over 100,000, a little bit of a dip in the weekend but we anticipate that that testing capacity will continue to increase,' says national medical director of England

The daily number of coronavirus tests in the UK have dropped below the government's target of 100,000 to 76,496, just two days after meeting it.

Michael Gove confirmed the figures on Sunday during the regular press briefing on the Covid-19 crisis.

The government previously vowed to carry out 100,000 tests a day by the end of April and reached its target on 1 May, reporting 122,347 tests had been done. On 2 May, 105,937 tests were carried out.

The day before the deadline, 81,611 tests were performed. In total, the number of antigen tests over the course of the outbreak stands at 1,206,405.

Dr Stephen Powis, national medical director of England, said at the briefing: "You will see that testing capacity has ramped up very quickly over the last week or so and we are now at a very high level of testing.

"Over 100,000, a little bit of a dip in the weekend but we anticipate that that testing capacity will continue to increase. It's a very important component of our approach going forward."

The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster said that steps taken to extend testing would help get more people back to work.

He said: "Thanks to the hard work of so many across the NHS, Public Health England, our pharmaceutical sector and our universities, we have tested over 200,000 key workers and their families, allowing those who don't have the virus to go back to work and protecting those who do.

"We have now of course extended the criteria for testing beyond key workers to anyone over 65 displaying symptoms, and anyone who has to travel to get to work.

"And this week, we will be piloting new test, track and trace procedures on the Isle of Wight with a view to having them in place more widely later this month.

"All of these steps will help us to get more people back to work and help to support the delivery of our public services."

The government has faced widespread criticism over its testing capacity. When Matt Hancock first promised the 100,000 target at the beginning of April, only 10,000 tests a day were being carried out.

The testing totals were rapidly increased in just a matter of days with the expansion of eligibility to wider groups of people and the establishment of 49 drive-through centres and 96 mobile testing units.

Thursday's figures were also bumped by the 27,497 home testing kits sent to individuals through the Amazon. A further 12,872 were sent to "satellite" sites within the health service, which were counted on dispatch rather than after they have been returned to labs and analysed.

As of Sunday, 182,260 cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed, with 28,131 deaths.