Coronavirus testing has failed to hit the government's 100,000 target for the second day in a row.
Just 85,186 tests were provided yesterday, new figures reveal.
And thousands of those will have been at-home tests, which are counted as they are dispatched by courier, rather than when the test is actually performed.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the UK's capacity for testing yesterday was 108,000.
Ministers insist testing capacity remains high, but put the lower figures down to fewer people being at work at the weekend.
Yesterday, Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove admitted testing had dipped under the government’s 100,000 target already, with only 76,496 tests provided on Saturday.
Ministers claimed victory on passing Health Secretary Matt Hancock’s 100,000 a day target on Friday, despite counting tens of thousands of tests which had only sent out by courier, not analysed by labs.
Stephen Powis, National Medical Director of NHS England, said: “We are now at a very high level of testing - over 100,000 - a little bit of a dip over the weekend.
“But we anticipate that that testing capacity will continue to increase and it's a very important component of our approach going forward.”
Mr Gove said last night 1.2million tests had now been carried out in total, including more than 200,000 on key workers or their families.
