Hundreds of NHS workers' coronavirus swabs have reportedly been flown to Germany because the results are coming back in half the time.

Samples passed to Public Health England are believed to be taking up to four days to process but those on the Continent can come back in just two.

Northampton General Hospital is understood to have exported 400 samples to Eurofins Biomnis on Monday and had the results on Wednesday.

Northamptonshire Healthcare and Kettering General Hospital were also said to have been asked to join the scheme.

It comes as an estimated 75 NHS workers were swabbed for the bug at a make-shift testing facility at Chessington, Surrey, yesterday before it closed for lunch.

Hundreds of NHS workers' coronavirus swabs have reportedly been flown to Germany because the results are coming back in half the time. Pictured: The NHS swabbing centre at Chessington

SERCO staff move equipment at the drive through coronavirus testing site in a car park at Chessington World of Adventures, Surrey

Samples passed to Public Health England are believed to be taking up to four days to process but those on the Continent can come back in just two. Pictured: Medical staff testing people at a coronavirus test centre in the car park of Chessington yesterday

At Chessington, half a dozen nurses, doctors and support staff waited in their cars for the testing to resume after medical and logistical staff took an hour off at 1pm

Elsewhere yesterday:

Some of the biggest firms in Britain, including British Airways, Topshop owner Arcadia and car giant Nissan, suspended tens of thousands of staff using the Government's job subsidy scheme in a move that could cost taxpayers £60 billion;

The UK's death toll soared to 2,921, with a record 569 people dying in a single day;

The number of coronavirus cases worldwide passed the million mark;

Millions across the country lined the street at 8pm to applaud NHS staff fighting the virus, in the second weekly Clap the Carers event;

Downing Street said Boris Johnson was still suffering 'mild' symptoms of coronavirus a week after testing positive and may not be ready to leave quarantine today;

More than £13 billion of historic hospital debt will be written off to ease cash concerns;

NHS medical director Steve Powis suggested the lockdown is set to continue for weeks;

Despite the surge in cases, Mr Hancock said the NHS still had 1,821 spare critical care beds, even before major new Nightingale field hospitals open in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol and Harrogate;

Chancellor Rishi Sunak moved to force banks to make it easier for companies to get government-backed loans to help them through the crisis;

Mr Hancock urged Premier League footballers to 'take a pay cut'.

A source told the Sun: 'PHE said they'd be able to get results back within 24 hours but they don't have the capacity for that turnaround.'

Eurofins Biomnis, which has a lab in Surrey, would not be drawn on any deal with the NHS, but said it could partner with it to 'create a very significant capacity for the UK'.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has declared the UK will be conducting 100,000 coronavirus tests a day by the end of the month as the Covid-19 death toll hit 2,921.

But Germany are already powering through 70,000 a day while Britain's lags behind on about 10,000.

At Chessington, half a dozen nurses, doctors and support staff waited in their cars for the testing to resume after medical and logistical staff took an hour off at 1pm.

The farcical scenes saw NHS staff keep their windows closed and their documents on display as they waited for test centre workers to return.

Those who have undergone tests have been told they will need to wait three days before they are notified over the phone by a clinician of their result.

It came just a day after pictures showed the site was completely deserted and the Government's testing fiasco was exposed.

The queues built up outside the drive-through - at the entrance to the Chessington World of Adventures - warning medics they had to have an appointment.

NHS staff have already called the scheme 'absurd', pleading for health chiefs to allow them to turn up whenever they have a spare moment to get swabbed.

Meanwhile at a coronavirus testing centre at Northampton General Hospital (pictured) yesterday, NHS workers found the station had been closed

At a coronavirus testing centre at Northampton General Hospital yesterday, NHS staff found that the station had been closed

Despite being set up only three days ago, health workers looking to be swabbed were told that testing at the site 'has been put on pause'

Meanwhile at a coronavirus testing centre at Northampton General Hospital yesterday, NHS workers found the station had been closed.

The drive-through was set up at the site on March 30, but after just three days health workers were told testing 'has been put on pause'.

In a statement on Monday the hospital, which swabbed more than 400 members of staff by that afternoon, said the facility was only available for designated NHS staff.

A spokesman for the hospital said: 'The testing has been put on pause.'

The chaotic scenes came amid a huge argument over Britain's lacklustre testing policy.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson faced demands to summon the Dunkirk spirit and let 'small ship' labs start screening for the killer infection.

It also has raised questions over how soon the tests can be processed, with NHS staff saying they have been left waiting days for their results.

Public Health England has previously insisted all coronavirus tests should be carried out centrally, an approach contrasting with the tactic in Germany.

Fewer than 10,000 tests are being carried out each day in the UK, meaning the true size of the UK's outbreak is a guessing game.

Almost 3,000 NHS staff have been tested at the drive-through stations since the first facilities opened at the weekend.

Around 150,000 people in the UK have been swabbed in total.

In another element of the Government's unfolding testing shambles, it was revealed yesterday health chiefs have rejected some antibody tests they promised would be ready for mid-April.

Pictures yesterday showed little activity at the Chessington coronavirus testing site, which was set up as a drive-through for NHS workers who need to get tested

Staff yesterday were pictured stretching their legs while there was little activity at the testing centre

Officials, who claim to have ordered 17.5million tests to check who is immune, admitted some of the kits were not deemed accurate enough - but it was not revealed which tests had been blocked.

Putting a mass antibody testing regime in place is vital to ease the lockdown strangling the economy, which would allow Britons to know they are immune and go back to their usual lives.

IS THIS BUILDING THE REASON BEHIND BRITAIN'S TESTING FIASCO? Business Secretary Amok Sharma compared the renovation as being like trying to build a car factory Control-freak health chiefs have put all their eggs in one basket to make a super-lab in Milton Keynes to analyse thousands of coronavirus tests - but it still isn't up and running and officials are clueless as to when it will be ready. The National Biosample Centre site could be the key to fixing Britain's testing fiasco, after the Prime Minister pledged to ramp up swabbing and finally accepted mass testing was the solution to the 'puzzle'. The centre - built for £24million in 2015 - would face a massive overhaul. Ministers yesterday admitted they 'don't know' when the facility in Milton Keynes will be fully operational. Millions of Britons may have already been infected with the life-threatening infection - but Number 10 is clueless about the true size of the outbreak because of its controversial decision to not carry out mass testing. Putting a mass testing regime in place is vital to ease the lockdown strangling the economy and threatening millions of jobs, which would allow Britons to go back to their usual lives and not be confined inside their own homes. Advertisement

Antibody tests look for proteins made by the immune system to fight off the virus - they are different to the viral swabs being carried out by the NHS.

Frustrated health workers were still being turned away from coronavirus testing sites yesterday because they do not have the correct paperwork.

A doctor yesterday said it was 'absurd' NHS workers - who are desperately fighting the outbreak - are unable to turn up when they have a spare moment.

One nurse yesterday revealed it took her more than a week to book an appointment for a mouth swab, and described the process as a 'bureaucratic nightmare'.

Clare Beer, who works for the Epsom and St Helier NHS Trust, told MailOnline: 'The test was over and done very quickly.'

The 57-year-old, from Surrey, added: 'I should have the results in a couple of days. But it took me a week to get this appointment.'

Mrs Beer went into self-isolation two weeks ago after she developed a persistent cough – a tell-tale symptom of the COVID-19 virus.

She contacted the trust a week later when she felt better and asked to be tested but she did not have an appointment at a testing site confirmed until last night.

Describing the shambolic process of booking an appointment, she said: 'There were these emails going backwards and forwards, it took forever.

'They kept asking the same basic questions – like my name and date of birth – it was ridiculous.'

Mrs Beer was among more than 50 NHS workers who were queuing to be tested at the facility.

But one nurse said he had to wait for an hour at the Chessington site to be tested.

Gene Tatuin, 53, from Surrey, told MailOnline: 'I had an appointment for 10.30 but I had to wait for an hour to be tested.

'Everything is so slow. I had to wait for days to get the appointment and I was here early but still I had to wait.

Builders rush to put up a new drive-through coronavirus testing centre in Whitstable, Kent, as the number of British victims spirals

GPs in Whistable have been told that patients may be sent to the site if they show symptoms of the deadly virus. It is unclear when it will be ready

'I'm normally in charge of a hospital ward but I'm off work now because I have the symptoms. But hopefully I can be back in seven days.'

Marshalls asked each worker to show a record of their appointment and their NHS identification before they are allowed into the testing centre.

Other nurses, including Ali Mohungoo, have explained how they want to be tested so they can get back to work.

The 51-year-old told MailOnline: 'I have been self-isolating because I've developed a cough. So I want to know if I have the virus so I can get over it and get back to work.

FRANCIS CRICK INSTITUTE CHIEF URGES PM TO OVERRULE HEALTH BOSSES AND SCALE UP MASS TESTING Boris Johnson is facing demands to overrule control-freak health chiefs yesterday amid warnings 'time is running out' to scale up coronavirus testing. Sir Paul Nurse, chief executive of the Francis Crick Institute, urged the PM to summon the Dunkirk spirit and let 'small ship' labs start screening. The institute announced it has started testing NHS staff from University College London Hospitals and aims to ramp up to 500 per day by next week and expand to other hospitals in the capital. Cancer Research UK said it is also providing testing kits and expert staff to ramp up testing for NHS staff across the country. The private labs' involvement come as the Government is facing bitter backlash over slow progress on increasing the number of people it is testing. Delivering a damning verdict on government's strategy and lack of 'preparation', Sir Paul Nurse warned the country was 'running out of time' to get on top of the outbreak and capacity at research facilities was 'agile' enough to get round shortages of chemicals. The comments came amid signs ministers are finally changing tack over the testing regime, after weeks of Public Health England (PHE) insisting all screening should be carried out centrally. PHE's approach is meant to ensure checks are conducted properly but contrasts with the decentralised tactics deployed successfully in countries like Germany, which is carrying out around 50,000 per day. Advertisement

'I organized this appointment through my NHS Trust. They are desperate to get staff back to work.'

A senior nurse explained it was vital for staff to be tested so they could be returned to the front-line as soon as possible.

The 45-year-old ward sister told MailOnline: 'I'm a ward sister in charge of a general ward in a local hospital.

'I have been self-isolating because I've got the symptoms and so has my husband and two children. I think we've all got it.

'But the sooner I can confirm I have the virus the quicker I can get back to work. My colleagues are having to carry on without me. So I want to back as soon as possible.'

Wembley's testing facility was also busy yesterday, with cars snaking down the road for up to 60 metres as they opened for business at 10am.

MailOnline was told around one in eight trying to enter Wembley IKEA car park were still being turned around and refused testing.

Shoppers appeared to mistake the queue for the store reopening yesterday, with one woman annoyed she couldn't pop into the store to buy a picture frame.

Mental health worker Oluwatoyin Adeoye was angry at being turned away, saying he just wanted a test to make sure he was not spreading the virus to his patients.

Mr Adeoye, who works at St Bernard's Hospital in Ealing, said: 'I came here to get a test so I know I do not have the virus and can continue to work at the hospital.

'I did not know that you need an email. This is wrong. All NHS workers should be given the test.'

Earlier a nurse who works at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital sat in her car having been turned away as she did not have an email authorisation.

Marites Vicenco said she had been given a time for an appointment at the IKEA test centre but had not received an email confirmation.

She spent over 15 minutes on her mobile phone calling an NHS helpline before she was sent the email that allowed her to enter the facility.

Even though the test centre only opened at 10am a long queue of cars had built up inside the car park waiting for their allotted slot.

Several people who identified themselves as key workers were among those refused entry because they did not have an appointment.

Radiographer Denise Orlandini said she was disappointed not to be allowed inside, adding: 'It hasn't been made very clear who and who cannot have the test.'

Care home worker Elena Filip drove from her home in North London in the hope of getting a test.

The 36 year old said she had developed a sore throat and wanted to make sure that she was not infected with coronavirus so that she could continue her work.

She told MailOnline: 'I work with old and vulnerable people and the last thing I want to do is infect them.

'I hope I do not have the virus but I wanted to be responsible and make sure that I am okay to work.'

Security guards at the test centre said one car every five minutes was being directed to a test bay.