Pontins camp is
SOLDIERS found themselves in a rather unusual environment as they moved into the Pontins holiday park in Ainsdale.
Coachfuls of soldiers arrived at the beachside resort on Thursday, November 5 as part of a mass coronavirus testing programme being deployed in Merseyside.
Photos taken during their arrival showed scores of armed services personnel against the surreal background of dodgems, and children’s characters.
Army and police vehicles were also seen arriving at the site, which is usually a holiday resort.
The soldiers were brought in to assist NHS Test and Trace and commercial partners and support the mass testing by planning logistics and delivering the rapid turnaround lateral flow testing part of the programme.
Around 2,000 Armed Forces personnel are being deployed across Merseyside for the pilot of mass testing, which will soon be extended to Southport.
The programme means anyone living or working in the area can be tested regularly, even if they have no symptoms, in an approach which Prime Minister Boris Johnson said “has the potential to be a powerful new weapon in our fight against Covid-19”.
It was originally intended for those who live or work in Liverpool but will soon be rolled out into Sefton and other parts of the Liverpool City Region.
The aim of the programme is to find asymptomatic cases in order to help prevent and reduce transmission in the community.
It involved carrying out testing in new and existing sites across the area, including in hospitals, care home settings, schools, universities, workplaces and using at-home kits.
The operation has already seen new testing units launched around Liverpool and combines the use of existing swab testing and new fast-turnaround tests that are able to deliver results in as little as 20 minutes.
Speaking when the initiative was announced, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said: “We will be deploying 2,000 talented Armed Forces personnel to, once again, rise to the challenges posed by Covid-19 to ensure we go above and beyond for the Liverpool community - we will have your backs throughout the trial.
“The military are uniquely placed to help with the fight against Covid-19 and remain ready to support with the mass testing initiative in Liverpool along with the additional needs of the country at this time.”
After testing began on Monday, more than 23,000 people were tested in Liverpool by Monday afternoon, with around 0.7% testing positive. That meant that around 160 people who did not previously know they had the virus could self-isolate in order to protect others.
The success of the trial means that the programme will be rolled out to the rest of the Liverpool City Region, including Sefton.
However, Sefton will only receive enough tests to cover 10% of the population and details on how best to allocate those are yet to be confirmed.
Sefton Council leader, Cllr Ian Maher, said: “I am delighted that people across our borough are going to benefit from the new Lateral flow tests, [which] have a turnaround time of under an hour.
“Although we have been limited with the number of tests and will only be able to test 10% of the population it’s another way of identifying people who have coronavirus before they show symptoms. This will help reduce the number of people they might spread it to and in turn the overall the transmission rate.”