New rapid Covid testing site opens at leisure centre
A NEW rapid Covid-19 testing site has opened in Leek.
The site at Brough Park Leisure Centre is open Monday to Thursday from 10am until 4pm.
The centre now joins that already opened at Biddulph Leisure Centre from Monday to Sunday.
The opening of the site comes after the latest hotspot in the Staffordshire Moorlands has been named as the Hamps Valley area.
The sites will also be supported by various pop-up testing sites at different locations.
People in support or childcare bubbles who leave their homes to make essential trips are being urged to get tested in one of the centres.
The centres are for people without symptoms. Anyone with symptoms should instead book a test online through https://www.gov.uk/getcoronavirus-test.
Staffordshire County Council is now asking all residents who need to be out and about during the lockdown to have regular Covid-19 tests, and anybody in a hotspot area to book a test.
This call is part of the county council’s aim to test thousands of asymptomatic people every day.
Dr Johnny Mcmahon Staffordshire County Council’s cabinet member for health, care and wellbeing, said: “It is important everyone stays at home wherever possible and no mixing with other households takes place.
“For the people who are legally entitled to form a support or childcare bubble, we are strongly encouraging you to get tested regularly.
“We know that one in three people do not display any symptoms and that the new strain of coronavirus spreads far quicker.
“The best way to protect your bubble and break the chain of virus transmission is to follow the rules and to get tested on a regular basis.
“Tests are simple, free, and you get your results in around 30 minutes.
“Not everybody can form a support or childcare bubble. Please see ‘Making a support bubble with another household’ or ‘Making a childcare bubble’ for full details.”
For anybody in a Covid hotspot area, where numbers of cases are very high, it is especially important that they get tested if they have to leave the house.
Across the STP area in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-trent, weekly figures last week showed that 86.1 per cent of over 80s had been given first vaccinations, and that 143,301 total doses had been administered. Almost all care homes have now been vaccinated.
A spokesman said: “The STP is across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-trent. It is well on schedule to reach the target of reaching vulnerable groups by midfebruary.”