New Covid testing centre opens in city
A ‘walk through’ coronavirus testing facility is being opened at Fenton Manor as part of the national network. Phil Corrigan looks at the reasons why it is needed...
ASECOND national Covid-19 testing site is opening in Stoke-on-trent. The walk-through facility will operate on the car park at Fenton Manor Leisure Complex on a limited basis on Tuesday, October 13, and then from 8am to 8pm, seven days a week, from Wednesday.
This means the local testing service which has been operating at Fenton Manor over the last five weeks will now come to an end, with the final day of testing on Monday.
The new Fenton Manor centre will be part of the national testing programme, and people with coronavirus symptoms will be able to book appointments at www.nhs. uk/coronavirus or by calling 119.
While the existing regional testing site at the bet365 Stadium can only be used by people with access to a car, people will be able to access the Fenon Manor site on foot.
North Staffordshire also has regional testing sites in Newcastle town centre and at Keele University. A third Stoke-on-trent facility, in the north of the city, is due to open later this month.
Stoke-on-trent City Council and Staffordshire County Council worked together to set up a pilot local testing service at venues such as Fenton Manor last month, in response to the acute shortage of slots available through the national programme.
While demand for the local service was initially very high, it has fallen in the last couple of weeks as more slots have been made available through the national programme.
It is not known how many tests will be available at the new Fenton
Manor facility, but as with the other regional sites it is likely to vary from day to day.
City council leader Abi Brown said: “We have been working hard with a number of partners to secure this testing facility. It is great news that more testing capacity is now available in the city focused on the south of the city.
“This extra facility strengthens our efforts to tackle the virus – it supports people to get back to school and work quickly or to selfisolate if they test positive so they minimise the risk of spreading the virus. With positive cases continuing
to increase across the city, it’s imperative that everyone plays their part in tackling this horrible disease – having more testing such as this is a critical tool in our armoury that helps us to kick coronavirus out of Stoke-on-trent.”
Dr Paul Edmondson Jones, director of adult social care, health integration and wellbeing, said: “More testing in the city not only protects more of our residents but also allows us to understand more around transmission in the city. If anyone has symptoms they are urged to book a test as the best way to protect your family and friends.”
City and county council leaders had previously written to Health Secretary Matt Hancock asking the government to back their proposals for an expanded local testing service, utilising labs at the Royal Stoke University Hospital. But it does not appear that these plans will be going ahead anytime soon.
People will able to book an appointment at the local testing centre at Fenton Manor on Monday, if they unable to get a slot through the national programme. The booking site will be available on the council’s website from 9am on Sunday.