Mansfield MP Ben Bradley welcomes mass Covid testing for Nottinghamshire

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced that 600,000 rapid-turnaround lateral flow tests will be sent out by the NHS test and trace to local public health leaders this week – including in Nottinghamshire.

Each area will receive an initial batch of 10,000 rapid tests as part of a new pilot to enable them to start testing priority groups.

Proactively testing asymptomatic individuals will help identify those who unknowingly have the virus and enable those who test positive and their contacts to self-isolate, which can help drive down the R rate locally and save lives

Mr Bradley said: “This is huge progress and I’m delighted to see that Nottinghamshire will be front of the queue as the mass testing programme is rolled out.

“Mass testing will play a crucial role in tackling coronavirus and I know that this news will be a great relief to constituents across Mansfield and Warsop.”

Matt Hancock MP, the health secretary, added: “Mass testing is a vital tool to help us control this virus and get life more normal.

“I am delighted to say 10,000 of these tests will now be sent out to over 50 directors of public health as part of our asymptomatic testing strategy.

"I want to thank all directors of public health for their support and efforts over the past months to help us tackle this virus, bring it under control and get the country back to what we love doing.”