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By Kate Holton
LONDON, April 5 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris
Johnson said on Monday everyone in England will be able to take
a COVID-19 test twice a week in a new drive to track the
pandemic as society reopens and the vaccine rollout continues at
its rapid rate.
Johnson, who is expected to confirm plans to relaunch
international travel and open sections of the economy later on
Monday, said the new mass testing programme would break the
chain of transmissions and spot cases without symptoms.
As much of Europe enters new lockdowns to tackle surging
cases, Johnson has set out a staggered plan to ease restrictions
in the coming months, a huge boost for one of the worst-hit
countries during the pandemic.
"As we continue to make good progress on our vaccine
programme and with our roadmap to cautiously easing restrictions
underway, regular rapid testing is even more important to make
sure those efforts are not wasted," Johnson said in a statement.
Junior health minister Edward Argar said the tests would be
sent to homes or businesses, or picked up from pharmacies or
test centres. He said he was confident people would isolate.
"People are doing the right thing," he told Sky News.
The increased testing will help health officials to track
the pandemic as the country slowly reopens from a strict
four-month lockdown.
Johnson is expected to confirm that all retail, outdoor
hospitality and hairdressers can reopen on April 12 in England,
while a traffic-light system for countries based on infection
and vaccination levels will be used for international travel.
Vaccine passports are also being trial led for mass events.
Under the current plan international travel will not resume
until May 17 at the earliest. The Financial Times said Johnson
was not expected to set out a specific timeframe.
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are following their
own, similar paths out of a strict lockdown that was imposed at
the beginning of this year.
Britain is able to pursue a recovery after it gave
AstraZeneca and Pfizer shots to well over half
the adult population. A reopening of schools in March has also
not yet led to a spike in cases, despite increased testing.
(Editing by Jan Harvey and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
