SURGE testing is to begin in parts of south London after a "significant" cluster of South African variant has been detected.
The government said it is the "largest surge testing operation to date" aimed at suppressing any possible new cases of the variant.
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A total of 44 cases and 30 probable cases of the more transmissable variant were found in the area, dating back to the first case in early March.
It brings the UK's total to 533 confirmed cases.
All identified cases are isolating or have completed their isolation, and their contacts have been traced and asked to isolate.
People aged 11 or over who live, work or travel through Wandsworth and Lambeth are being urged to get a PCR test at a number of centres. They have also been told to do two lateral flow tests a week.
But there will not be door-to-door testing, as there has been in the past.
Any tests that come back positive will be sent for genomic sequencing at specialist labs to see if the South African variant is to blame.
Dr Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser for NHS Test and Trace, said the cluster of cases is "significant".
"It's really important people in the local area play their part in stopping any further spread within the local community," she said.
"PCR testing is now available for all and I would strongly encourage everyone, whether they live, work or travel through the boroughs, to get tested even if they don't have any symptoms of coronavirus.
"Around one in three people with Covid-19 don't show any symptoms.
"By taking part you can protect yourselves and your loved ones and help us identify any possible new cases that would otherwise be missed, preventing further transmission and saving lives."
The variant is deemed to be more transmissible - potentially up to 50 per cent more infectious.
It also has mutations that scientists say allow it to dodge some immunity, with studies showing vaccines are not as effective against it.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, urged people in the affected boroughs to get tested "as soon as possible".
"It's vital that we do everything we can to control this variant by taking a test and following the rules," he said.
Ruth Hutt, director of public health for Lambeth Council, said she was “fairly confident” contacts of the cases had been traced.
And she said local people can still enjoy the easing of lockdown despite the threat of the variant.
Asked on BBC Radio 4’s Today about whether people in the area should stay home, Ms Hutt said: “No, we want everybody to follow the advice that still stands around ‘hands, face, space’.
“We want them to enjoy the easing of lockdown but to do that safely, and it is a really good opportunity now to mobilise all this testing just to check we don’t have any further cases of this variant in either Lambeth or Wandsworth.”
She added a lot of cases were picked up through asymptomatic testing of people who had no signs of the coronavirus.
"As a result of that, what we want to do is a wider testing across the general public of anybody who doesn’t have symptoms to check there aren’t further cases out there that we may have missed.”
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