Britain is putting 500 million pounds ($666 million) into trials of rapid Covid-19 tests and into population-testing for the disease, the health ministry has said.

Health minister Matt Hancock has said he hopes mass testing using faster Covid-19 tests can be rolled out towards the end of the year, adding that they are key to restoring freedoms after months of Covid-19 restrictions.

According to Reuters, the funding will be used to expand existing trials of saliva tests and a rapid 20-minute test in southern England, while a new, community trial in Salford, northwest England, will assess the benefit of population-testing, under which people are regularly tested regardless of whether they have symptoms, so that any cases can be picked up before they have spread widely.