Registration card from COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test

Test registration card from COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test completed at a mobile testing unit in May 2020

In spring 2020, increasing the availability and speed of COVID-19 testing was a priority for the government. Community testing and contact tracing ended on 12 March as the number of cases rose, with the country’s limited testing capacity being reserved for hospital patients. On 2 April, Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced a five-pillar strategy for increasing testing across the UK, including an ambition to conduct 100,000 tests a day by the end of the month.

From then, testing was gradually made more widely available – first for essential workers and their families and then people in specific categories identified by the government, such as over-65s with COVID-19 symptoms. As part of the drive to increase capacity, the armed forces began operating mobile coronavirus testing units to allow for hundreds of key workers and vulnerable people to be tested in areas where there was significant demand. This test registration card relates to a test taken on 12 May at one such site, set up in a car park at Alexandra Palace. The recipient qualified for testing as a key worker in the food industry who was experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 (defined at the time as new continuous cough, fever and/or a loss or changed sense of smell or taste). Six days later, the government announced that anyone over the age of 5 with symptoms was eligible for a test.