today at six — new evidence that the uk's coronavirus testing capacity is falling short of demand. the government labs are under strain. people with worrying symptoms face long journeys for their tests. when i logged into the website and tried to book it, initially it tried to send me to belfast, which is over 100 miles from where i am. the government says it's putting half a billion pounds into finding better and quicker ways to test people. also tonight... the empty check—in desks that are crippling the aviation industry — fears that new quarantine measures in wales and scotland will make matters worse. henrietta szucs and mihrican mustafa's bodies were found in a freezer — their killer gets a minimum 38—year sentence.

7,000 newjobs at amazon — yet another sign of the online shopping surge. the great books bonanza — why the pandemic means even greater competition for that christmas best seller. and coming up on bbc news, johanna konta, dan evans and andy murray all feature in second round action at the us 0pen — british number one evans hoping to reach the the third round for the fourth time in his career. good evening and welcome to the bbc‘s news at six. time and time again we're told that testing is the key to keeping the coronavirus pandemic under control. but there's growing concern tonight that the uk's testing capacity

is falling short of demand. the bbc has been told of people being sent hundreds of miles for a test. a government official is quoted as saying that testing labs are "maxed out". the health secretary, matt hancock, has announced details of a £500 million fund to boost capacity by finding quicker and more efficient ways to test people. here's our health editor, hugh pym. test results delivered in just a couple of hours using technology like this. that is what the government wants to see delivered on a large scale, making regular checks possible for millions of people. there is more funding for trials but it is a long—term goal. right now there are complaints from some people about being sent long distances to get tested, including one family who requested tests at their local site at glasgow airport. stephen, who didn't want to give his full name, said he was offered belfast when he tried to book online. belfast wasn't exactly desirable, especially with a ferry trip.

so i went back in again to try it again and the second time it tried to send me to portree in the isle of skye which is 127 miles and a five and a half hour round trip, five and a half hours each way. stephen and his family did eventually get tests locally, although there was a long wait at the site. this lab in glasgow analysing swabs is run by the uk government. the test and protect scheme is managed by nhs scotland. a postcode search of coronavirus test booking revealed more examples including people with symptoms in totnes in devon being directed to carmarthen, nearly 200 miles away. one in penrith advised to go to dumfries, trip of more than 50 miles. and in london, in one instance, someone being advised to go to a centre in cardiff, a three—hour drive of 150 miles. officials say the system will now be adjusted to reduce these driving times. ministers argue that resources have

to be focused on local outbreaks and in some other areas there may be longer waits. the vast majority get it quickly and close to home but when those testing centres are full, then obviously people are offered a test at the nearest place at which one is available. and we have got, you know, we have got a significant demand for testing but we have also got a very high capacity. but official figures suggest there is more capacity at big labs than the number of tests carried out and some expects want to know what is really happening. there should not be a problem with people getting test results but there is. so something is not quite right. those figures don't seem to add up and that is our main concern. the government says developing saliva tests with rapid results could have a big impact on curbing the virus but that will take time. right now, there are other urgent testing issues to address. hugh is here.

what are the implications of this shortfall that you have been reporting on? many experts have warned the testing system in different parts of the uk needs to be up to speed as schools come back and with winter not far off but today we have learned that in some areas there are shortcomings and one of the senior officials involved in the system apologised today to those who have been offered these tests at a very long distances and there has been a pledge to make sure that the system been a pledge to make sure that the syste m d oes been a pledge to make sure that the system does not create that sort of dilemma for people. ministers are arguing that the large majority of people do get tests done close to home, they are setting great store by new labs coming on stream and this whole series of new techniques, rapid testing, which could develop a whole new armoury in the fight against the virus. but clearly capacity is not quite right at the moment for the demand that is there. we have learned today that in scotland, the r number, anything

above one shows the virus is accelerating, has gone up in the top of the range could be 1.4 which is an illustration of how all administrations in the uk will face up administrations in the uk will face up to challenges in the weeks ahead. thank you very much. the latest government figures show there were 1,735 new confirmed coronavirus cases reported across the uk, in the latest 24—hour period. that means the average number of new cases reported per day in the last week was 1,435. 13 deaths were also reported, that's those who have died within 28 days of a positive covid—19 test. that means on average in the past week, seven deaths were announced every day. that takes the total number across the uk to 41,527. some of the biggest names in british aviation have accused the government of a lack of leadership as they issued a warning about the future of the industry. they're calling on ministers to approve coronavirus tests

at airports to give people the confidence to travel. it comes as both the welsh and scottish governments imposed new quaratine measures on travellers from portugal and greece. the advice from the government in westminster remains unchanged. here's our transport correspondent tom burridge. people were heading out to greece from edinburgh this afternoon, even though they will have to quarantine when home. work from home, i can self—isolate for 14 days and i'm happy to do that. i got to have a big operation when i'm back home so we wanted to go on holiday. but people in greece now who live in scotla nd people in greece now who live in scotland are not so happy. i'm flying back to glasgow, it has an infection rate of 2011 believe. i'm coming from a country with an infection rate of 15 so i'm going from a country with a lower rate to the one i go back to but i have to isolate. but the welsh government has decided that second pass and five other greek islands pose a risk. people in wales will only have

to self—isolate if they return from this part of the country. there is still no quarantine for the whole of greece if you live in england or northern ireland. as travelling abroad gets more complicated, it is merely quiet at heathrow but aviation bosses say the government could change that by bringing in testing for covid at airports. but the facility already built at heathrow is not being used because it does not have the government's backing. a passenger arriving into the uk will have booked a test online and would then provide a saliva swab test to a trained nurse. they should get the result of that test within 24 hours and will be given a kit so they can do a second test at home in several days. two negative results would cut your quarantine period short. of the uk government says tests can give false results. week in, week out, we look at more destinations. the man in

charge at airport at glasgow, aberdeen and southampton says without a policy to kick—start some trouble, the sector faces without a policy to kick—start some trouble, the sectorfaces ruin. quite frankly i think at this moment in time the uk government is overseeing the demise of the aviation industry in the uk. we are seeing morejob losses aviation industry in the uk. we are seeing more job losses than we did in the demise of the coal industry in the demise of the coal industry in the 80s. that surely cannot be an accolade any government would like to have. portugal's infection rate has risen beyond the uk government's benchmark but tonight as a price, it will not be added to the quarantine list for england. some had already changed their holiday plans. we heard when we were at the beginning of the week that possibly portugal would go back and so we had one friend who absolutely could not risk having to go into quarantine and she had to buy a very expensive flight and left this morning. but the welsh government has added mainland portugal to its quarantine list, working out who has to itself

isolate after a trip abroad is not a relaxing affair. 0ur wales correspondent hywel griffith is at cardiff airport. yet more evidence of the nations going their own way on this issue? yes, when these were injuly, we were told established injuly, we were told there a i 7; nations