A Springfield Covid-19 testing site is providing almost four times as many tests per day compared to three days ago.

Test centre security officer Waseem Khan said: “Two days ago we had just 40 tests and yesterday there were 120, I think today there may be 150 plus.”

The new Omicron variant was first recorded in the UK on 27 November, after being originally identified in South Africa. As of 1 December, 32 cases have been recorded in the UK.

Khan added that the site has been less busy than others in East London, like Romford, Dagenham or Ilford, which have administered up to 400 tests a day.

Khan told the Hackney Post that “Lots of children are coming in, if they are coughing, or have a temperature.”

The site is located at Arriva Bus Garage in Springfield and is open daily from 8am to 8pm.

Current Covid-19 cases in Hackney stand at 263 per 100,000 as of 24 November , lower than the London average of 361.