NHS to test 10,000 people a day for coronavirus as cases expected to soar in UK
The NHS in England is planning to "ramp up" testing facilities so that 10,000 coronavirus tests can be performed each day.
So far more than 25,000 coronavirus tests have been conducted by public health officials in England.
⚠️ Read our coronavirus live blog for the latest news & updates on Covid-19
But it is hoped that within weeks, 10,000 swabs will be assessed each day.
In most cases, patients will know within a day whether they have been infected, with the confirmed cases being urgently prioritised.
The news comes as England's deputy chief medical officer Dr Jenny Harries said that "many thousands of people" would contract coronavirus as the disease continued to spread in the UK.
At present, diagnostic facilities can perform around 2,000 tests a day but the NHS announced it was undertaking a "significant expansion".
Highly sensitive test
Public Health England developed a highly sensitive test to detect the virus which has been rapidly rolled out to its regional labs across the country.
Now local hospital labs will join specialist services, including those already provided by PHE, in being able to accurately detect the presence of the new virus.
Professor Dame Sue Hill, NHS chief scientific officer, said: "The NHS is ramping up the number of testing centres across the country, to help people get care quickly or have their mind put at ease.
"England's NHS has world-leading expertise and every hospital across the country, and the healthcare professionals who run them, are now actively planning to respond flexibly to manage new demand.
"The public can help us to help the country to stay safe by practising good hygiene and washing their hands more often, for at least 20 seconds."
Professor Sharon Peacock, director of the National Infection Service at Public Health England, added: "Wider testing is important as it allows us to continue to meet demand as the number of people being tested increases in the coming weeks.
"This will ensure that PHE and the NHS have the most robust system possible to understand what is happening with the virus.
"PHE has continued to process the vast majority of test results within 24 hours of receiving the sample in a PHE laboratory and returning them to NHS colleagues and will continue to do so."
Testing was initially only conducted at PHE specialist labs, with the next phase of the rollout seeing 10 NHS microbiology services called to step up doubling the number of daily tests.
Further testing will be conducted by some NHS pathology services as the diagnostic programme rolls out.
First MP diagnosed
It comes as health minister Nadine Dorries became the first MP to be diagnosed with coronavirus.
The Conservative MP said she has been self-isolating at home after testing positive, and her parliamentary office has closed following advice from PHE.
Latest figures show that 382 people are now confirmed to have Covid-19 in the UK - up from 319 the day before - and six people have died in British hospitals.
The most recent patient death took place on Monday night at Watford General Hospital, part of West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust.
The patient, who is believed to have contracted the virus in the UK, was in their 80s and had underlying health conditions.
Wales confirmed a further nine positive diagnoses on Tuesday evening, taking the country's total to 15, while 10 new cases were confirmed in Ireland.
Meanwhile, British nationals on the Grand Princess cruise ship at the Port of Oakland, California, will land in the UK today and will be asked to go into self-isolation.
The Foreign Office said it was also in contact with Britons in Vietnam after reports of nine new cases confirmed among travellers on board the same flight from London to Hanoi on March 2, including seven British citizens.
Routine checks halted
Meanwhile, the British Medical Association warned that routine health checks by GPs could be halted to "focus on the sickest patients" if the outbreak worsens.
Richard Vautrey, chairman of the BMA GPs committee, told the BBC that this could lead to increased waiting times for patients with mild health conditions.
It comes as the chairman of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) criticised the Government for being "insufficiently focused" on GP surgeries amid the outbreak.
Professor Martin Marshall told Londonwide LMCs conference on Tuesday he had been inundated by emails from concerned GPs.
"General practice is going to start feeling the pressure probably in quite a significant way," he said.
MORE ON CORONAVIRUS
Also on Tuesday, Italy extended coronavirus travel restrictions to the whole country, with soldiers and police enforcing the bans.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in the UK amended its advice to warn against all but essential travel to Italy.
Public Health England (PHE) said anyone flying back to the UK from Italy - and those returning from the US cruise ship - would be told to self-isolate at home if they have no symptoms.