Rapid test centres a welcome addition
Royal Borough: Lateral flow testing opens at two leisure centres
Rapid coronavirus test centres have opened up in the Royal Borough and have already identified asymptomatic carriers of the virus who could have potentially spread it to the public.
A pair of test centres opened up in Braywick Leisure Centre and Windsor Leisure Centre on Monday for people who do not have any COVID-19 symptoms and work in public-facing roles.
The purpose of the centres, which offer 30minute lateral flow tests, is to identify the carriers of the virus who have no symptoms, and would otherwise carry on doing their jobs, putting the public at risk.
In the first two days of operation, 450 people were tested across both sites, with four people testing positive. These people are now at home self-isolating.
Public-facing workers, from council officers and bus drivers to mechanics and supermarket staff, can get tested twice a week at the centre to give them the peace of mind
that they are not carrying the virus.
Cllr Stuart Carroll, lead member for health, said: “So far so good. We are getting very positive feedback on the ground and positive resident feedback on how it is operating.
“We have to remember that one in three people are asymptomatic and could not realise they are transmitting it to other people.
“The more people that keep transmitting the harder it is to push the virus back and that puts us in a difficult position in terms of trying to control case count.”
Once they are running at full capacity, the centres will be able to test 1,400 people per day.
On social media, some people have been critical of the fact that only a few positive tests have been recorded at the sites.
Responding to this criticism, Cllr Carroll said: “There have been some unintelligent and misinformed comments on social media saying ‘what’s the point in it if you are only catching four positive cases, is this a value for money exercise?’
“The answer is yes. The point is to know where the virus is and to identify anybody who is positive because one case alone means that a great number of other people could be infected.
“It is vital from that point of view in stopping transmission.”
The test centres are open to all residents who work in a public-facing role and cannot work from home. To book a test, which only takes 30 minutes, and to view a full (but not exhaustive) list of those eligible for one, visit www.rbwm.gov. uk/home/council-anddemocracy/contactus/coronavirus-information-and-support/covid19-community-testing
If you have COVID-19 symptoms, visit gov.uk/ get-coronavirus-test to book a test at another centre.
A meeting of the Royal Borough cabinet descended into chaos in a series of fiery exchanges last week – leading councillors to question the culture within the borough,
The row began at Thursday’s meeting when Councillor Stuart Carroll (Con, Boyn Hill) referenced a petition of more than 1,800 signatures to abandon plans to introduce parking charges at out-of-town locations, started by resident and former Liberal Democrat candidate Adam Bermange (see right).
“This Adam chap going around launching political campaigns isn’t what people in Boyn Hill want,” he said.
This comment caused Cllr John Baldwin (Lib Dem, Belmont) to raise a point of order.
“Did I just hear the deputy of cabinet refer to a resident in a disrespectful way, naming him, naming the ward for which he spoke in an attempt to identify him?” Cllr Baldwin asked.
He asked the Royal Borough’s managing director, Duncan Sharkey, to comment – given that
Cllr Baldwin was called out for a similar infraction himself in a previous meeting.
Council leader Andrew Johnson responded instead,
threatening to boot Cllr Baldwin out of the meeting.
“Quite honestly, Baldwin, I don’t care much for your tone – I’ve seen you in action before against one of my cabinet members and it wasn’t pleasant,” he said.
Referring to Cllr Baldwin by his last name only angered him further and Cllr Baldwin was sceptical when Cllr Johnson apologised and insisted this was just a slip of the tongue.
During Cllr Baldwin’s continued objections, Cllr Phil Haseler (Con, Cox Green), was heard to say ‘shut up’, causing tempers to flare even more.
Monitoring officer Emma Duncan stepped in to move the conversation along and Mr Sharkey confirmed that it was ‘never preferable’ to name individuals in council meetings who are not there to speak up for themselves.
Cllr Haseler apologised for his outburst at the end of the meeting, saying: “To be perfectly honest I was completely frustrated with Cllr Baldwin’s behaviour, having been subjected to his abusive and aggressive nature in the past.”
The row was the latest in a series of angry exchanges to take place between councillors since meetings went online due to the pandemic.
It even made national headlines, as it mirrored a recent video of a similarly fractious meeting of Handforth Parish Council, which went viral across the country.
Cllr Johnson has since admitted on social media that the argument was ‘not our finest hour’ and apologised, while the leader of the opposition has called for ‘more civility’.
Cllr Johnson told the Express: “It’s safe to say we all need to work together to raise the level of public discourse, particularly in terms of the occasional lapse in professionalism.
“The onus falls on all of us to collectively work to address the issue.”
Cllr Phil Haseler said that some meetings tend to attract ‘political grandstanding’.
“Everyone really needs to stop the political statements and think more about the residents and the borough,” he said.
Opposition leader Cllr Simon Werner (Lib Dem, Pinkneys Green) said he felt the problem was that not enough time was given over to airing opposition ideas and concerns.
He added: “We need to get more civility into the council – we’re going to disagree because we have different visions for the borough.”
Cllr Baldwin said that the accumulation of grievances has exacerbated the tensions that have always been a part of council meetings.
“There’s not a lot of trust, not a lot of goodwill, and a set of rules most people disobey whenever it suits them,” he said.
Cllr Lynne Jones, leader of the local independents, said she felt there needs to be more scrutiny within the administration, so that scrutiny does not become party political.
“Our scrutiny system is broken in the borough,” she said.
“If you’re the ruling party’s back bench you still need to challenge the decisions of the cabinet. But we’re not seeing any challenge at all from Conservatives. That’s not the culture and it’s very hard to challenge a culture of ten years.”
‘Quite honestly Baldwin, I don’t care much for your tone’