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Business leaders have warned that shortcomings in the UK’s coronavirus testing regime are threatening to “cripple” the economy, urging ministers to “get a grip” of the situation.
The test and trace system has been overwhelmed by a surge in demand as England’s schools reopened and ministers pushed employees to return to workplaces.
With the government prioritising those most in need, widespread reports of people struggling to obtain tests have compounded fears of a second national lockdown as the system fails to pinpoint local Covid-19 outbreaks.
The Financial Times reported on Wednesday that the percentage of people who received their positive result by the end of the day after their test had dropped from 63 per cent at the start of September to just 8 per cent.
Dido Harding, the head of…