Britain's health department had said mass home testing is “one of the biggest innovations we have made” and “a game-changer” because it has greatly increased the availability of tests for the new coronavirus, including for those self-isolating and living in rural areas. Home tests are now offered to anyone who exhibits symptoms, Reuters noted in an exclusive report.

But since it began three months ago, the UK's home-testing experiment has experienced some significant issues including delays that experts say can defeat efforts to reduce disease transmission, tens of thousands of delivered test kits that were never returned to laboratories for processing, and kits containing faulty sampling swabs.

The problems are among the latest to blight the UK's response to the Covid-19 pandemic. With the exception of Belgium, Britain currently has the highest per-capita mortality rate from the virus among major economies.