The government has failed to meet its coronavirus testing target for the fourth day in a row.
Latest figures show 69,463 COVID-19 tests were conducted on Tuesday, well short of the 100,000 benchmark.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock pledged that Britain would be carrying out 100,000 daily tests for the virus by the end of April.
The government said this milestone was reached on the last day of the month, with more than 122,347 tests on 30 April.
But this total included more than 40,000 home testing kits that had been sent out and not returned, including several which people were told to bin.
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Opponents accused the government of manipulating the figures in order to reach the target.
But ministers rejected this and hailed a considerable boost in testing capacity within a matter of weeks.
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Speaking to Sky News on Wednesday, Mr Hancock claimed Britain was "miles ahead" and now a world leader on testing.
He said: "We invented the test in January. In February we got the number of tests up to 2,000 (a day). In March we multiplied that by five times to 10,000. Then we set the 100,000 target.
"The Germans started with this enormous diagnostics industry. But if you look at other countries around the world we are miles ahead on testing and we are now one of the world leaders.
"It is true that Germany has a very high capacity – about the same as ours. So we have basically caught up with Germany that started with this massive capability.
"We are miles ahead of South Korea now. Absolutely."
Reacting to the latest testing figures, Labour's shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said: "Far from delivering on the promise of 100,000 completed tests a day, testing numbers have now fallen four days in a row.
"A test, trace and isolate strategy is crucial to tackling this virus.
"Ministers need to explain why the number of tests being completed daily is falling rather than rising."
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Prime Minister Boris Johnson earlier said he wanted the UK to reach 200,000 tests a day by the end of May.
Downing Street later clarified that this for capacity, rathRead More – Source
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