UK's first city-wide coronavirus testing kicks off in Liverpool

LIVERPOOL • Liverpool yesterday began England's first city-wide trial of coronavirus testing in an attempt to prevent hospitals becoming overwhelmed during the country's second wave of the pandemic.

All of the northwestern city's 500,000 residents and people working there will be offered repeat tests, even if asymptomatic, under the pilot which will initially run for two weeks. Liverpool last month became the first region to enter the most severe tier of regional lockdown as it battled a spike in cases, followed by the nearby city of Manchester.

A month-long nationwide lockdown came into force on Thursday as cases began to spiral in all parts of England. British police said they arrested 104 people in the capital on Thursday, as people gathered in central London in breach of the new coronavirus regulations. Britain is already grappling with the worst toll in Europe, with 1.1 million cases and over 48,000 dead after testing positive for the disease.

Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson said the pilot could save lives and "get the city out of tier three restrictions". Director of public health Matthew Ashton told the BBC the pilot could last longer "to make sure it is long enough for us to be able to see the impact". He said: "The point of this is to get the city tested."

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the kind of cheap new tests being deployed in Liverpool "can be a massive and possibly decisive use to us in this country in defeating the virus". The tests involve swabs and new "lateral flow" tests, akin to pregnancy tests, which can provide a result within 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab began self-isolating after coming in contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19, a spokesman said, and "will continue to work remotely".

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS