CORONAVIRUS

Routine mass coronavirus testing hailed as path to greater freedoms

Weekly testing of teachers is also part of the plan to make life more normal again
Weekly testing of teachers is also part of the plan to make life more normal again
OLI SCARFF/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Regular coronavirus checks on schoolchildren, shoppers and commuters will be piloted as part of a £500 million effort to use mass testing to get Britain back to normal.

Weekly testing of teachers will also form part of preparations for routine checks on millions of people with no symptoms.

Spit tests that avoid the need for uncomfortable swabs will be used after preliminary findings suggested that they were just as good as standard tests.

A 20-minute test technology that gives results on the spot will also be studied further as ministers plan for a world in which regular testing becomes a part of everyday life.

While most hopes of a return to normality have been pinned on a vaccine, ministers believe that mass testing with