The British government has unveiled its plan to set up two new large laboratories, that starts operation by early 2021, add 300,000 to the UK's daily coronavirus testing capacity, the British government said on Monday.
The 'mega labs' will create up to 4,000 jobs. The proposed sites are at Leamington Spa in England and one in Scotland. The labs will be established with high standards and can be called as next-generation lab.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said that cutting-edge technology made by British manufacturers will be used in both labs, including automation, robotics and consumables. 'The radical expansion of testing has been one of the successes of this pandemic, as it means more people can get a test more conveniently than ever before. We didn't go into this crisis with a significant diagnostics industry, but we have built one, and these two mega labs are another step forward,' said UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock.
He added, the new labs are more futuristic. The labs develop national infrastructure to future epidemics and improves care for other deadly disease such as cancer. The DHSC said a recruitment drive has already started for the Leamington Spa lab, and a campaign is due to start shortly in Scotland for the second mega lab.
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