UK Invests More in Testing Facilities to Tackle CCP Virus Variants

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson looks at samples at the Lateral Flow Testing Laboratory with Doctor Abbie Bown during a visit to the Public Health England site at Porton Down science park near Salisbury, southern England, on Nov. 27, 2020. Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty Images

The UK government has pledged more funding for COVID-19 testing facilities in order to tackle the threat of new variants of the CCP virus, Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced on Wednesday.

The government will invest £29.3 million ($40.7 million) in new testing facilities run by Public Health England (PHE) at Porton Down, which will speed up testing of vaccines tailored for new COVID-19 variants.