Ramping up virus testing
MOBILE COVID-19 testing units will become a common site with more being rolled out in Calderdale in the coming months.
Sites across the borough for pop up units are being identified with local data informing where and when they will appear, said Calderdale Council’s Director of Public Health, Deborah Harkins.
Ms Harkins said the mobile units were an important part of the national testing programme to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic and the council was looking at potential temporary testing sites ready for increased testing.
Testing is being stepped up as part of the council’s planned response to COVID-19 and follows figures released last week showing Calderdale in the top 20 for highest new coronavirus (Covid-19) infection rates across the UK.
Those figures, for the seven days to July 11, based on tests carried out in laboratories (pillar one of the Government’s testing programme) and in the wider community (pillar two), put Calderdale in 17th place nationwide.
Ms Harkins said: “As in other places across the country, Calderdale will be regularly hosting temporary mobile testing sites over the coming months.
“This is because the virus is still within communities and will remain for the foreseeable future, as restrictions continue to be eased.
As well as the temporary testing unit being run with the help of military personnel at
Mixenden Community Centre, Halifax, from last Friday until July 21, the council has other sites, said Ms Harkins.
“In addition to the temporary testing unit in Mixenden, we currently have sites in Todmorden and King Cross. We are developing mobile testing sites right across the borough, so people can expect to see other mobile testing stations in Calderdale in the coming weeks and months.”
Other measures taken under the plan include supporting high-risk occupational groups, including care workers, taxi drivers and shop workers, identifying, visiting and supporting high risk workplaces including food processing factories, and working closely with schools, places of worship, places and the hospitality industry.