People across Liverpool are set to be offered regular coronavirus tests.
Under the Government’s new pilot scheme, the options will be made available to around the half a million people that currently live and work in the city.
England is set to enter a nationwide four-week lockdown from midnight on Thursday (November 5) in efforts to limit the continuing spread of Covid-19.
Liverpool’s mass testing programme will begin on Friday and aims to cut self-isolation for those that test positive down from its current 14-day minimum.
The city has one of the highest coronavirus infection rates with the 410 cases per 100,000 people up to October 30 more than double the national average.
Tests will be carried out at existing Covid-19 screening sites across Liverpool and home kits in hospitals, care homes, schools, universities and workplaces.
“These tests will help identify the many thousands of people in the city who don’t have symptoms but can still infect others without knowing,” said Boris Johnson.
“Dependent on their success in Liverpool, we will aim to distribute millions of these new rapid tests between now and Christmas and empower local communities to use them to drive down transmission in their areas.
“It is early days, but this kind of mass testing has the potential to be a powerful new weapon in our fight against Covid-19.”