Frontline NHS staff will finally be tested for coronavirus from next week, after fierce criticism that they are being left to guess if they have been infected.

Critical care nurses and intensive care staff – as well as ambulance workers and GPs – will be given tests, to see if it is safe for them to be at work.

The government announced a deal struck with dozens of universities, research institutes and companies, which will lend their equipment to three new ‘hub laboratories’.

The first lab is expected to start operations over the weekend, initially processing around 800 samples, but with the capacity to scale up quickly.

The move is designed to end the situation where NHS staff who suspect they have symptoms must stay at home – or risk infecting others if they do carry on working.

“It is urgently important that we are able to test frontline staff who are off sick or otherwise isolating,” Simon Stevens, the NHS chief executive, told the daily Downing Street press conference.

“We will be rolling out staff testing across the NHS beginning next week, starting with critical care nurses, other staff in intensive care emergency departments, ambulance services, GPs.

“And, as the testing volumes continue to increase, we want to expand that to a wider range of essential public service workers including social care services, as well as of course continuing with the patient testing which is so vital.”

Criticism has grown since the government decided testing would concentrate on patients admitted to hospital with severe symptoms, and those in care homes where there was an outbreak.

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Testing of suspected cases in the community was stopped, as the UK moved from the ‘containment’ phase when infections rose sharply.

Ministers are battling to reach their target of 10,000 daily tests by the end of the weekend. On Thursday, 7,850 tests were carried out.

The UK has been left trailing badly by Germany, which is already carrying out a staggering 500,000 tests a week, while the UK has blamed supply problems for its relatively low number.

The new tests will not be available over the counter or for purchase online from any retailers, officials say.

Instead, they will be delivered and collected by Royal Mail and even Amazon, with Boots supplying volunteer clinicians as testers.

At the press conference, Sir Simon also warned that some cancer care could be stopped if both clinicians and patients agree it would be too risky for them to travel.