The Health Secretary Matt Hancock has announced that mass testing is being rolled out to 67 local authorities in England.

600,000 test kits are being issued to certain areas in the next few days to help detect asymptomatic cases, the Department of Health and Social Care said. 

An initial 600,000 lateral flow test kits are being issued to certain local areas in the coming days, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has said, as part of the Government’s plan to expand asymptomatic testing for Covid-19.

When can I get a test?

Matt Hancock told MPs that he had written to directors of public health across the country over providing “10% of their population per week” with tests.

Around 10,000 tests will be made available to each area to help them start testing priority groups, such as the elderly and frontline workers.

How long does it take to get a result? 

The new lateral flow tests, which have been used in a mass testing pilot in Liverpool, have a turnaround time of under an hour.

Lateral flow tests have been available since Friday for people who live and work in Liverpool and do not have symptoms.

What happens if I test positive? 

Anyone who tests positive must self-isolate along with their household immediately and their contacts will be traced.

Eligible individuals who test positive – and contacts who are required to self-isolate – will be entitled to the £500 Test and Trace Support Payment in the same way as a regular swab test ordered through NHS Test and Trace.

Which areas are included in the rapid test scheme? 

  • Barking and Dagenham
  • Bexley
  • Birmingham
  • Blackburn and Darwen
  • Blackpool
  • Bolton
  • Brent
  • Bristol
  • Bury
  • Calderdale
  • Camden
  • City of London
  • County Durham
  • Coventry
  • Darlington
  • Doncaster
  • Dudley
  • East Riding of Yorkshire
  • Enfield
  • Essex
  • Gateshead
  • Greenwich
  • Hackney
  • Halton
  • Hammersmith and Fulham
  • Hartlepool
  • Hertfordshire
  • Kingston upon Hull
  • Islington
  • Kensington and Chelsea
  • Kingston upon Thames
  • Knowsley
  • Lambeth
  • Lewisham
  • Luton
  • Manchester
  • Middlesborough
  • Newcastle upon Tyne
  • Newham
  • North Tyneside
  • Northumberland
  • Nottingham City
  • Nottinghamshire
  • Oldham
  • Redbridge
  • Redcar and Cleveland
  • Richmond upon Thames
  • Rochdale
  • Salford
  • Sefton
  • South Tyneside
  • Southwark
  • St Helen's
  • Staffordshire
  • Stockport
  • Stockton-on-Tees
  • Sunderland
  • Tameside
  • Tower Hamlets
  • Trafford
  • Wakefield
  • Waltham Forest
  • Wandsworth
  • Warrington
  • Wigan
  • Wirral
  • Wolverhampton