EVERY person in the UK over the age of five is now eligible to be tested for Coronavirus (Covid-19), the health secretary Matt Hancock has announced.

Speaking in Parliament this afternoon, Mr Hancock said the government was 'expanding eligibility for testing further than ever before'.

He also said more than 100,000 tests had been carried out on Sunday.

The government has come under considerable criticism for its failure to ramp up testing quickly enough, having missed its own 100,000-tests-per-day target for several weeks.

The announcement comes after the loss of taste or smell was added to the list of Covid-19 symptoms, alongside a fever and a new persistent cough.

A further 122 Covid-19 deaths were recorded in England over the past 24 hours, with 24 of those fatalities reported in the North West.

No new deaths were recorded in Cumbria hospital trusts' health centres during that time, however.