Britain to roll out millions of 90-minute coronavirus tests

Millions of COVID-19 tests able to detect the virus within 90 minutes will be rolled out to British hospitals, care homes and laboratories to boost capacity in the coming months, the country`s health minister said on Monday.

They will comprise 5.8 million tests using DNA and 450,000 swab tests. Neither will need to be administered by a health professional, said Matt Hancock.

"The fact these tests can detect flu as well as COVID-19 will be hugely beneficial as we head into winter, so patients can follow the right advice to protect themselves and others," he said.

Separately, the publicly-funded National Health Service said it would be offering "COVID-friendly" treatments to cancer patients, including drugs that do not have a big impact on the immune system.

Britain`s healthcare system has come under severe strain during peaks in the country`s COVID-19 outbreak, which has killed more than 46,000 people, the fourth highest toll in the world, according to a Reuters tally collated on Sunday.