More than 81,600 tests for coronavirus were carried out on more than 54,000 people on Wednesday, marking a significant move towards the government’s target of 100,000 a day by the end of April.
Boris Johnson revealed that there had been a huge jump of 30,000 tests in the previous 24 hours, but it will not be clear whether ministers have met their goal until later on Friday.
Earlier, the justice secretary, Robert Buckland, had conceded the government was likely to miss its deadline, as only 52,000 tests had been carried out on Tuesday.
“Even if we don’t hit it, we will in the next few days hit that target. We are up to 52,000 being tested, capacity is rising and I think it was right to set an ambitious target. Sometimes if you don’t hit a target on the due date, the direction of travel is the most important thing. And I believe we are going to get there and move beyond it because we need more,” he told Sky News.
However, the jump of almost 30,000 more tests in 24 hours suggested the government was potentially in touching distance of meeting the target after all.
Johnson said 81,611 tests had been carried out on Wednesday, although only 54,575 individuals were tested because of the number of repeated tests on the same people. Testing capacity stood at around 90,000.
There has been suspicion that the government may try to claim that reaching 100,000 capacity for tests as a victory on Friday, even if the testing goal itself is missed. The number of daily tests may also be inflated by the fact that it includes tests sent out in the post, rather than tests actually completed with results.
The deadline was set by Matt Hancock, the health secretary, on 2 April as the government came under pressure over low testing levels. At that point, there was capacity for 12,799 daily tests in England, with just over 10,650 tests carried out.
The total as of 9am on Wednesday was 52,429 tests with capacity to do 73,000, but only 33,000 individuals were tested because of multiple retests.
Ministers will not know until Friday how many tests were carried out on 30 April, but the number is likely to jump substantially because the criteria for those eligible for testing was widened this week to include over-65s with symptoms, those who work outside the home with symptoms, and all care home residents and carers, whether or not they have symptoms.
Buckland said he was frustrated by the likely failure to hit the target but encouraged that the rate of increase in testing had expanded so rapidly.
Earlier, hospital leaders launched a strident attack on the government’s testing strategy, regardless of the target.
Saffron Cordery, the deputy chief executive of NHS Providers, which represents foundation trusts in England, dismissed the 100,000 target as a “red herring” that distracted from the lack of a coherent overall strategy.
NHS Providers said in a report on Wednesday: “NHS trust leaders believe they have done all they can to support the national testing effort so far but are increasingly frustrated with the lack of clarity on how the testing regime will be developed for this next phase.
“At the moment they feel they are on the end of a series of frequent tactical announcements extending the testing criteria to new groups, with no visibility on any longer term strategy, and are being expected at the drop of a hat to accommodate these changes with no advance notice or planning.”
