Get testing and help stop spread of virus variants
INFECTIONS IN CITY AT TWICE THE NATIONAL RATE STILL
PUBLIC health officials in Leicester are urging people to get tested twice a week to try to stop new variants of coronavirus taking hold in the city.
Viruses are more likely to be able to mutate when they are spreading widely and the city’s seven-day infection rate of 88.1 cases per 100,000 is more than twice the national average.
Major lockdown relaxations in hospitality and retail are due to take effect on Monday and the government wants to avoid a resurgence of Covid-19.
Households with school-age children are already self-testing twice a week and many people are taking regular tests at their workplaces.
However, the Department of Health and Social Care has said that it is extending its testing programme to ensure everyone in the country has access to regular lateral flow device (LFD) tests.
In Leicester, testing can be done at one of the city council’s rapid testing centres, where people with no symptoms of coronavirus can go in for a lateral flow test twice a week – and have their results texted to their phone within 30 minutes.
Jo Allen, Leicester City Council’s Covid response programme manager, said: “We’ve got lots of capacity at our rapid testing sites, so I’d encourage people to use their local facility twice a week to make sure they’re not carrying the virus without realising it.
“It’s important to remember that as many as one in three people with Covid have no symptoms and feel completely well.
“Testing at our centres takes half an hour or less, and the results are registered with the national test and trace system.
“Because our staff are on hand to offer assistance, it can often be easier than self-testing at home.”
From yesterday, testing kits can also be ordered online from the government’s website and can be picked up, free of charge, from a limited number of participating pharmacies.
Packs containing seven LFD tests, can also be collected from the city council’s rapid testing sites during normal opening hours.
Anyone collecting the packs will be invited to take a supervised test so they can learn the correct technique before self-testing at home.
People testing at home are required to report every result to NHS Test and Trace on the same day they take the test.
This can be done online or by calling 119.
Anyone who gets a positive result from an LFD test is now required to book a follow-up procedure, known as a PCR test, to confirm their result.
This now applies to people who take the rapid test at one of the city council’s testing sites, as well as to those who self-test at home.
The confirmatory test can be booked by calling 119.
People are reminded that the rapid tests should only be used by those with no symptoms of coronavirus.
Anyone who develops symptoms of the virus, regardless of age, must self-isolate and book a PCR test by calling 119.
Anyone who tests positive, or has symptoms of coronavirus, is required by law to isolate at home for 10 days – with everyone else in the household or bubble staying at home for 10 days.