Coronavirus LIVE: Millions of 'essential workers' able to book Covid-19 tests online

24 April 2020, 05:56

From today millions more people are now able to get a coronavirus test if they have symptoms, key workers and people they live with can apply to get checked via the Government website.

That includes teachers, government employees, delivery drivers, and workers in the food industry, and the expanded testing programme also covers other people in the household.

The Health Secretary Matt Hancock says there's now capacity for 51,000 daily coronavirus checks - but that needs to double in the space of a week if he's to meet the government's target of 100,000 a day.

The number of patients in UK hospitals who've died after contracting Covid-19 has risen by 616. It takes the total to more than 18,700.

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