Park and ride now a drive-through Covid testing site
NEW HUB CAN CARRY OUT 1,500 TESTS A DAY – BY APPOINTMENT
A DRIVE-through Covid-19 testing centre is opening at a park and ride site in Newcastle.
Newcastle Great Park and Ride is to become one of 50 regional testing sites across the country with a capacity to carry out 1,500 tests per day, The Chronicle understands.
The new hub will replace the operation currently in place at Ikea in Gateshead as the furniture giant prepares to reopen the store to the public.
Construction at the site, owned by Taylor Wimpy and Persimmon, began on Wednesday with white tents visible in the car park. Boots workers wearing PPE will be carrying out tests, which will be available from today by appointment only by booking online.
While the centres were initially introduced for key workers, they have now been expanded to those living in the same household who may be showing symptoms of Covid-19. Coronavirus symptoms include a high temperature, continuous cough and a loss of or change to your sense of smell or taste.
A Newcastle City Council spokesperson said: “Testing can play a key role in the fight against the spread of coronavirus. Since it was announced that the testing facility at Ikea in Gateshead was to close, we have worked with our partners to identify an alternative site.
“We are grateful to Newcastle Great Park Consortium for making the car park at their ride facility available.”
The diagnostic test on a swab taken from the throat or nose of an individual will provide results usually within 48 hours. Those returning a positive result should isolate for seven days from the onset of symptoms while members of their household should isolate for 14 days from the same starting point.
Buses will be diverted as a result of Newcastle Great Park and Ride being out of action with the stop being moved to the layby in front of the SAGE office.
A spokesman for Newcastle Great Park Consortium, said: “Following an approach from Newcastle City Council, the Newcastle Great Park Consortium has been working with a range of stakeholders to consider the potential to use the Newcastle Great Park and Ride Facility as a temporary Covid-19 testing station. The consortium has agreed to help in any way to facilitate this use and from Thursday the current park and ride facility will close and be used as a testing site.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “In addition to setting up a nationwide network of drive in testing sites, we have also introduced home testing kit delivery and deployed mobile testing units operated by the Armed Forces. 1.8m people have now been tested in the UK and the vast majority report no issues with the process, with 95% receiving their results in less than 48 hours.”
If you or anyone in your household has coronavirus symptoms, you can book a test online at https://www.gov. uk/apply-coronavirus-test-essentialworkers?fbclid=IwAR1auroAMhMJB5b ypCvympUZ-JFeQU-UvF3_vLs-TFQlG5Qi7NG0uGaMyiw