Matt Hancock’s strategy for “ramping up” coronavirus testing was in tatters as it emerged just half the possible daily checks are being done.
Stand-in PM Dominic Raab said the UK now had capacity to test 40,000 people a day when grilled during Prime Minister’s Questions.
And Health Secretary Mr Hancock has vowed 100,000 tests will be carried out from next Friday.
But despite his claims the country was “ahead of our trajectory on capacity”, just 22,800 tests were conducted in the 24 hours up to 9am yesterday.
And only 13,500 individuals were actually checked, as poor reliability meant many needed repeat tests.
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NHS staff and care workers have complained of problems getting appointments for tests.
Many also face travelling long distances to drive-through centres often hours away.
Official figures show 8.3% of nurses and 4.3% of doctors are absent from work, equivalent to about 31,000 staff.
But the British Medical Association estimates the true figure is 100,000. Unison general secretary Dave Prentis said problems at test sites meant it was “no surprise” take up was so low.
He said: “Almost three weeks ago the Government set a goal of 100,000 daily tests.
“That was meant to have been by the end of April.
“Ministers’ strategy isn’t working, despite checks being vital in winning the fight against Covid.
“We need to get tests to staff, not expect them to attend centres. It’s not sensible to expect poorly individuals to travel miles.
“That could mean several hours’ drive for some in remote areas.”
Drive-through testing sites have been set up at Chessington World of Adventures, and in London, Manchester and Glasgow.
Many stood empty in recent days while some had long queues.
Currently NHS staff, social carers and some police, council workers and prison officers are eligible.
Supermarket workers and transport staff could soon be added to the list of people entitled to tests.
Foreign Secretary Mr Raab told the Commons: “Our capacity for tests is at 40,000 per day, so that is an incredibly important milestone.”
But Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the Government was again lagging behind other nations.
He said: “There is a pattern emerging here. We were slow into lockdown, slow on testing, slow on protective equipment.”
It comes as some European countries are easing lockdown measures.
Germany, which has been conducting 70,000 daily tests for a month, is assembling contact tracing teams as it lifts some restrictions.
But Mr Hancock said the UK would introduce contact tracing only once the number of new cases falls. “As we have reached the peak, as we bring the number of new cases down, so we will introduce contact tracing at large scale,” he said.
He would not confirm it would be in place for the review of UK lockdown in nearly three weeks’ time.
That will be the next opportunity the Cabinet has to consider reopening some businesses and easing social distancing measures.
Mr Hancock added: “We are ramping up our testing capacity and our capacity for contact-tracing in a matter of weeks.
“We’ll have it ready to make sure we can use that as and when the incidence of transmission comes down. It isn’t tied to the specific decision that we’re required by law to take in just over two weeks’ time.”
Meanwhile thousands of key workers could be sent home-testing kits this week.
If the trial is successful, officials hope to make the kits available to all NHS staff next week.
Amid fears some infected medics are wrongly being given the all-clear to go to work, a doctors’ union has called on Public Health England to publish more information about the reliability of Covid-19 tests.
Dr Claudia Paoloni, of the Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association, said: “We have long had concerns about the quality of the tests used to judge affected NHS staff ‘fit to work’ and wrote to PHE last week to ask for greater details on their efficiency.”
It follows the leak of a PHE document which urged laboratories to switch to commercial tests after issues were found with the ones currently being used.
Prof Sharon Peacock, the organsiation’s infection director, insisted no diagnostic test was 100% dependable.
She added: “The test is regularly and thoroughly reviewed to make sure it remains reliable and effective.”
