Matt Hancock, the British Secretary of Health, proudly announced on Friday that the country has reached an ambitious target for coronavirus testing that it set for itself earlier this month.
On April 2, after weeks of criticism that the UK was behind its European counterparts like Germany on testing, Hancock told the nation that it "set the target for 100,000 tests a day, by the end of this month. This is the goal "and I'm determined to make it happen "
Hancock said on the same podium today that the UK had beaten that goal by more than 22,000.
Hancock said optimistically, "I knew it was a bold goal, but we needed a bold goal." Critics might point out that the lens wasn't the only thing out of Hancock's mouth that could be called daring. In the numbers counted, thousands of tests were sent to the public, but not necessarily returned.
Jonathon Ashworth, the shadow health secretary of the opposition Labor Party, has already released a statement accusing the government of playing with the numbers. "The increase in testing is an important step. But many would have expected the 100,000 promises to have been kept by testing, not just because 39,000 kits had been mailed."
The question of testing did not need to become so political.
When the UK caved in to reverse its March 12 decisions to abandon community mass testing on April 2, it did not need to set a specific target or deadline. Indeed, it seems very unlikely that scientific or medical advice would have produced a round figure like 100,000 or a clear date like the end of a month. These promises were based on political choices made by the government and it is entirely reasonable for critics to expect the target to be achieved.
However, it is also reasonable for critics to point out that the date and number of tests performed are entirely arbitrary and that what really matters is a consistent goal for these tests, such as the deployment of a contact tracing program.
So while the British government can be proud of its extraordinary expansion of testing in such a short time - and no one can deny that more testing is undeniably a positive thing - it is reasonable for critics to step back to simply keep the his uplifting promise.
