High-risk workers to be tested

TENS of thousands of people who work in high-risk jobs, such as taxi drivers, cleaners and shop workers, will be tested for coronavirus, even though they have no symptoms, the Government has announced.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said the pilot study, which begins immediately, would improve understanding of the prevalence of the virus in asymptomatic people in higherrisk jobs.

It is believed that people without symptoms can spread coronavirus to others without being aware that they are infectious.

Firms included in the trial are taxi firm Addison Lee, BT, services firm Mitie and pharmacy giant Boots. Workers will be given a one-off test to see how common asymptomatic Covid-19 is among these groups. Local authorities in Bradford, Newham, Brent and Oldham will also select groups of people for asymptomatic testing who are deemed to be high-risk.

The DHSC said each business will receive thousands of tests for staff via home-testing delivery or a mobile testing unit. Local authorities will book tests for people at walk-in test sites. Those who test positive must self-isolate and results will be shared with the NHS Test and Trace.