U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said all coronavirus tests should be turned around within a day by the end of June, BBC News reported Wednesday.
The 24-hour turnaround goal, announced last month but with no set deadline, would have to address “insuperable problems” such as postal delays, Mr. Johnson noted.
Last week, Dido Harding, the head of England’s testing program, said 84% of tests at drive-in centers were returned within 24 hours and 95% of them within 48 hours, according to BBC News. Figures for home testing kits or tests given at other settings were not provided.
The tests involve a nose and throat swab in order to detect the virus’s genetic material.
More than 279,000 people in the U.K. have been infected by COVID-19 and about 39,000 have died from the illness as of Wednesday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
• Shen Wu Tan can be reached at stan@washingtontimes.com.
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