Scientists in Norwich are hoping to test all of its 140,000 every week in order to track and halt the spread of the virus. Scientists in the city’s laboratories want to be the first in the UK to check every one of their residents. Experts within the city have stated the scheme could save the economy if successful and could potentially be rolled out nationwide.

According to the MailOnline, Southampton has also submitted a similar proposal to the Department of Health.

The project was inspired by a letter written by Profesor Julian Peto and a group of 30 leading scientists which called for universal repeat testing.

Under the plans, army reservists, taxi drivers and bin men could be used to deliver and collect swabs from households.

The barcode samples would be taken to laboratories and be processed by a team of biologists in batches with every test costing £1.

If a positive test comes back, the person would be asked to isolate before contact tracing would take place.

Leaders of the project want to find an estimated £2million in funding.

If they receive the funding it would allow the team to test every resident, every week for three months.

A Department of Health source said: “We have had different cities bidding.

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“We may end up engaging with the proposals but it is not something that will happen imminently.”

Testing is a crucial part of the UK’s recovery from the virus in order to determine who has had the virus but also who has an immunity to the contagion.

Sir Paul Nurse, director of the Francis Crick sanctitude, said testing across the country is essential for coming out of the lockdown.

Despite the need for testing, there has been confusion about how much testing has actually taken place across the country.

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Initially, a target of 100,000 tests a day had been set for the end of April.

Although Health Secretary, Matt Hancock stated the target had been met, the 100,000 threshold included 40,000 home test kits which had been sent out.

The UK did not hit the 100,000 threshold again until Sunday, May 10.

In the latest figures released by the Department of Health, there were 85,293 tests carried out as of 5pm on May 11.

Boris Johnson has also set a target of 200,000 a day by the end of this month.

However, the UK’s statistics watchdog has told Mr Hancock to improve on the trustworthiness of the statistics.

UK Statistics Authority chair, Sir David Norgrove sent a letter to the Health Secretary asking for further clarity on the testing.

Sir David said: “For the sake of clarity and confidence, it is important that the target and its context should be set out.

“It should be clear whether the target is intended to reflect testing capacity, tests that have been administered, test results received, or the number of people tested.”

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