Coronavirus testing hit by struggle to match results with NHS records

Problem affects up to 350,000 samples from drive-through centres in England and Scotland

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Efforts to prevent the nationwide spread of coronavirus have been dealt a blow after it emerged that health officials in England and Scotland are struggling to match hundreds of thousands of coronavirus test results to patient records.

Up to 350,000 Covid-19 test samples – those carried out at drive-through centres between 2 April and 6 May – are believed to have been taken without recording individual NHS numbers or full addresses, making it harder for health authorities to track the pandemic and cases in their areas, the Guardian has learned.

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