UEA's new coronavirus test available for hundreds more patients a day at Norfolk and Norwich Hospital

A coronavirus test devised by the University of East Anglia means hundreds more patients can be tested every day at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital.

The new test, designed by the UEA’s medical school, can be used 200 times a day, with a potential to reach 500.

It was created in less than a month and went into use at the hospital last week.

The Government pledged to carry out 100,000 tests a day by the end of April but it is struggling to get to 20,000 daily at the moment.

NHS staff have been tested in Norfolk for the past three weeks, but with limited resources.

Some care home staff have also not been able to get tested locally, with carers from Hunstanton told to travel to Sheffield.

However, with this new test, the UEA believes local testing capacity can be increased.

The UEA medical school is also developing an antibody test which will show whether or not someone has had coronavirus.