Coronavirus: Government runs out of initial supply of home test kits for key workers within hours

Around 5,000 kits available were snapped up within minutes of new booking system opening – despite Matt Hancock’s promise essential workers could access them

Key workers trying to access a home coronavirus test kit were told they were all gone soon after after the government’s new online booking system opened for applications.

The home test kit portal launched on the government website around 8am on Friday after health secretary Matt Hancock promised to make them available to essential workers and members of their households.

Some people attempting to register were told around 8.30am that Friday’s allocation of home kits had already been issued – before a general message appeared around 11am confirming applications were closed.

It stated: “Sorry, we have issued all of today’s viral swab testing kits. Please come back tomorrow … We are currently expanding our allocation of home test kits on a daily basis.”

The prime minister’s official spokesman later said 5,000 home testing kits were ordered online on Friday morning in the first two minutes – the total amount available for the day.

Message shows Friday's allocation of home test kits have been issued, 24 April 2020 (gov.uk)

Another 15,000 appointments for tests at regional drive-through centres were booked before the portal closed, said the No 10 spokesman.

He said: “The reason the website stopped taking bookings was because all the available slots had gone. It will be back up and running when the next batch of slots are available for each given day.”

Mr Hancock said earlier on Friday morning that the scheme would start in “small numbers”, but he was “carefully” watching to ensure the website could handle the expected online traffic.

“As with all [new] IT systems, there’s always a moment when you’re running it that you concentrate on it very carefully,” he told Good Morning Britain.

The cabinet minister also said the home test kits would be collected by a courier and taken to a lab to prevent people having to travel long distances, with results available within 24 hours in most cases.

Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Mr Hancock said: “They will start in small numbers but that service will grow, and I think that will be a popular service as it increasingly becomes available.”

Mr Hancock said the number of drive-through test centres were being expanded from 30 to 50.

The main portal for the online test booking system said: “Coronavirus test: applications closed. You can’t currently register for a Covid-19 test. Please check back here later.”

The Department of Health apologised for running out of tests, tweeting: “There has been significant demand for booking tests today. We apologise for any inconvenience. We are continuing to rapidly increase availability. More tests will be available tomorrow.”

Mr Hancock insisted the government was “ahead” of its plan to be able to test 100,000 people per day by 1 May, despite admitting the latest daily figures showed only 23,000 had been carried out in a 24-hour period.

“The reason why the increase was pretty slow at the start of the month is because we have been building these systems to automate the testing, automate the labs and the IT systems that are needed,” he told the BBC.

“We are ahead of our internal plan for where we expected the amount of capacity to be and we have got a week left to hit that goal.”

Asked if he thought the 100,000 daily target would be met, he replied: “I do, yes, but nothing is guaranteed in life.”

This story has been updated to include comment from the prime minister’s official spokesman.