All essential workers in England can register for tests on the government's website, if they or a family member have virus symptoms
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the expanded testing programme was"part of getting Britain back on her feet".
The data also showed a further 616 people died with the virus in UK hospitals, bringing the total number of deaths to 18,738.The health secretary announced the new testing arrangements at Thursday's Downing Street coronavirus briefing, along with a commitment to recruit 18,000 people to trace contacts of those infected.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis joined in the clap for NHS carers on Thursday He told BBC Breakfast the home kits would be collected by courier and would initially start in"small numbers" before the service grows. Labour's shadow health minister, Justin Madders, told the BBC he welcomed the move to expand testing to key workers but questioned whether anything was being done to improve ease of access to the tests.
Some may complain that the drive in centres are not accessible but the plan will soon involve home testing kits being sent to people to do their own swabs and send them back for laboratory testing.
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