Purpose

Using Dean's (2010) analytics of government, this research explores how regimes of governing practices are linked to the underlying policy rationalities in dealing with the UK government's COVID-19 testing policies as a strategy for governing at a distance, including how targets were set and operationalized.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper draws on the UK government's policy documents, other official publications (plans) and parliamentary discourse, together with publicly available media information related to its COVID-19 policies.

Findings

This research reveals that, with respect to the governance of COVID-19 in the UK, testing has the dual role of inscription for the government's performance and classification for the pandemic risks. The analysis illustrates that the central role of testing is as a technology for classification for identifying and monitoring the virus-related risks. Moreover, our discourse analysis suggests that initially COVID-19 testing was used by the UK government more for performance communication, with the classificatory role of testing and its performativity as a strategic device evolving and only being acknowledged by government gradually as the underlying testing infrastructure was developed.

Research limitations/implications

This paper is based upon publicly available reports and other information of a single country's attempts to control COVID-19 over a relatively short period of time.

Originality/value

This paper provides a critical understanding of the role of (accounting) numbers in developing an effective government policy for governing COVID-19.

中文翻译：

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测试时间：用数字控制大流行

目的

使用Dean（2010）对政府的分析，本研究探讨了治理实践的制度如何与处理英国政府COVID-19测试政策的基本政策合理性联系起来，作为远距离治理的战略，包括如何设定目标和投入运营。

设计/方法/方法

本文借鉴了英国政府的政策文件，其他官方出版物（计划）和议会讨论以及与COVID-19政策相关的公开媒体信息。

发现

这项研究表明，就英国对COVID-19的治理而言，测试对于政府的绩效和大流行风险的分类具有双重作用。分析表明，测试的核心作用是作为用于识别和监视与病毒相关的风险的分类技术。此外，我们的话语分析表明，英国政府最初将COVID-19测试更多地用于绩效沟通，因为测试的分类作用及其作为一种战略手段的性能正在不断发展，但随着基础测试基础设施的逐步完善，政府才逐渐意识到这一点。发达。

研究局限/意义

本文基于公开报告和单个国家在相对较短的时间内控制COVID-19的其他信息。

创意/价值

本文提供了对（会计）数字在制定有效的政府政策以管理COVID-19中的作用的批判性理解。