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Vulnerable people in sheltered housing will get coronavirus tests regardless of whether they have symptoms, Matt Hancock has said. 

The health secretary says a testing programme will begin this week for people in places like retirement villages and sheltered accommodation. 

He told MPs on the science and technology committee that asymptomatic testing will now be rolled out in places “like care homes”, which are registered with the Care Quality Commission. 

“The systematic rollout of asymptomatic testing to environments that are essentially sheltered accommodation that aren’t care homes – that rollout […] will start this week,” he said. 

It comes after Mark Adams, chief executive of charity Community Integrated Care, said that more frequent routine testing of care home staff and residents was needed. 

Giving evidence to the Commons Science and Technology Committee on the coronavirus pandemic, Health Secretary Matt Hancock told MPs that the Government “took the best decisions” it could with the information available at the time.

Asked by chair Greg Clark if it was his view that all the right decisions had been taken at the right time, Mr Hancock replied: “It’s my view that we took the best decisions that we could, with the information that we had, at the time.

“And that people worked in the best possible interests of trying to tackle the pandemic.

“Now, hindsight in a wonderful thing, it’s also a very important part of learning lessons from a crisis like this, so I’m absolutely sure that there’s lessons that we can learn through this process.

“And largely because that will build on lessons that we have been learning all the way through.”

Hancock was also asked about other areas of the government’s response to the pandemic.

He said that his priority is “controlling the virus and preparing for winter”.

When asked if he was engaged in reforming Public Health England (PHE), Hancock said: “Well there will be a time for that, my priority now is on controlling the virus and preparing for winter.

“For now, my focus is on getting the virus down, controlling the level of the virus and preparing for winter.” 

Asked by committee chair Greg Clark if it was his view that all the right decisions had been taken at the right time, Hancock said: “It’s my view that we took the best decisions that we could, with the information that we had, at the time.

“And that people worked in the best possible interests of trying to tackle the pandemic.

“Now, hindsight in a wonderful thing, it’s also a very important part of learning lessons from a crisis like this, so I’m absolutely sure that there’s lessons that we can learn through this process.”