Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Tuesday he was concerned about a sudden jump in the number of new coronavirus infections over the past two days, urging the public not to become complacent about social distancing.

"It is so important ... that people take their responsibilities seriously and people don't become relaxed about this virus," Mr Hancock told a parliamentary committee.

Mr Hancock also said it will be 'a couple of weeks' until Covid-19 testing issues are resolved.

A senior official at NHS Test and Trace earlier issued an apology to people unable to get a Covid-19 test, saying laboratories processing the tests are at a "critical pinch-point".

The Health Secretary told the Health and Social Care Committee it will be "a couple of weeks until we can get all of that sorted in the short term".

"We've already put in certain solutions to ensure people don't have to travel more than 75 miles," he added.

"I appreciate 75 miles is far longer than you want to go, and indeed the vast majority of tests are much closer than that."

The Health Secretary also admitted ministers are "concerned" about rising cases and are "keeping all options open", amid reports that the Government is set to tighten social distancing measures.

Mr Hancock told the Health and Social Care Committee that it is "so important that people take their responsibilities seriously and people don't get relaxed about the virus".

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