Boris Johnson pledged the NHS would receive an increasing number of coronavirus test kits to ensure patients suffering from symptoms and frontline medical staff are able to be tested for the deadly virus. While the number of tests conducted across the UK has steadily increased, Housing Secretary confirmed the Government will be able to guarantee only up to 15,000 tests by the end of the week compared to the 25,000 pledged. The confirmation sparked the fury of Good Morning Britain host Piers Morgan, who challenged Mr Jenrick: “Why is Germany doing 10 times as many tests?
“No Government minister can give a straight answer to a very simple but very important question.
“Why is it that your chances of surviving this are 10 times better in Germany now than here because they’ve got the tests and we haven’t? That’s what it boils down to.”
Mr Morgan added: “You just said testing is key. If testing is key to saving lives, and they are doing ten times as much…”
The Housing Secretary dismissed claims extra testing would ensure the UK is able to save extra lives, but he insisted the Government is working hard to ensure the tests needed are made available soon.
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Mr Jenrick said: “I’m not sure that assertion is correct, that your chances of surviving the virus are ten times more likely in Germany than it is in the UK.
“Testing is key but it’s not correct to say that individuals in Germany are 10 times more likely to survive.
“It’s why you and I, who are not medics, should be cautious about making statements like that that are not founded in medical science.”
He added: “Germany is testing more people than the UK is now, I am acknowledging that.
“We want to test far more people.”
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