A mass testing pilot for asymptomatic people was held in Liverpool (Peter Byrne/PA)
Detection of coronavirus cases rose by almost a fifth and potentially thousands of new infections were prevented, results of a community testing pilot in Liverpool have suggested.
More than 3,200 staff days among key workers, such as those in the emergency services, were saved from being lost to quarantine through a test-to-release scheme, researchers said.
New cases of the virus dropped by 21% compared with other areas up to mid-December, the study showed, at which point the spread of the Kent variant made it more difficult to compare areas.