Britain did not change its criteria for recording coronavirus tests to meet its goal to carry out 100,000 tests per day by the end of April, the adviser in charge of the operation said on Friday.
"There's been no change to the ways tests are counted," John Newton said at a news conference in Downing Street, although he confirmed that tests which were sent out in the mail were counted when they left the testing programme, not when the results of those tests were in.
Earlier the Health Service Journal reported that the criteria for reporting the number of tests performed per day had been changed to include ones that were mailed to people's homes, before they had been processed in a laboratory.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock told reporters that he did not recognise the Health Service Journal's report.
(Reporting by Paul Sandle, writing by Andy Bruce, editing by Alistair Smout)
