The military is being brought in to help manage coronavirus testing, Kent County Council (KCC) has confirmed.

From tomorrow, crews will be deployed to 'priority sites' as part of the authority's plan to increase asymptomatic testing and move Kent out of Tier 3 as quickly as possible.

KCC said it will start by targeting people who have the biggest exposure to the virus in the districts with the highest number of cases.

KCC Director of Public Health, Andrew Scott-Clark said: “The military has agreed to help with the logistical planning of this ‘lateral flow testing’ which is a huge undertaking given the size and complexity of the county.

"We’re looking forward to the military personnel joining the team tomorrow; we have identified priority sites and now need to plan practically how this testing programme will work.

"We are one of the largest local authorities in the country, so identifying suitable venues and recruiting staff to operate the sites is part of the difficult logistical process that form part of the planning.

"Once details about site venues and how they will operate are confirmed, we will release more information including advice on how people can book a test.

"Asymptomatic testing is a significant undertaking that requires planning and whilst it is an important part of managing the pandemic, it is not the solution and any testing needs to be alongside all the other public health measures such as social distancing, wearing masks and washing hands."

Last week it was announced Kent will move into Tier 3 and will be saddled with the toughest restrictions from today, as a number of districts continue to battle with some of the highest infection rates in the country.

Some of those areas include Swale, Thanet and Medway.

Thanet county councillor Barry Lewis (Lab), of Margate, who called for military intervention during a KCC public health meeting 12 days ago, gave his support.

He said: “I’m glad that after a delay the army has found the resources to come into Kent.

“The quicker the army is deployed, the quicker we can be out of tier three.”

And statistics published today show the rate of infection across the county is still on the march.

Read more: All the latest news from Kent.