Residents urged to get tested
Councillor keen to get message across to BAME groups ‘because they are more vulnerable’
A councillor has urged Slough workers to get a coronavirus test – even if they do not have symptoms.
Cllr Natasa Pantelic (Lab, Cippenham Meadows), cabinet member for health and wellbeing, said there is still capacity at Slough’s drive and walk-in test centre in Montem Lane and got one herself earlier this week to show residents how easy it is.
She said: “We want to get the message across to people to go and get a test. I had no symptoms but I wanted to see for myself what the process was like.
“I’m picking up on anxiety from our BAME (Black, Asian and minority ethnic) population around going to get a test but it is really important to encourage residents from these backgrounds to get a test because they are more vulnerable.”
Cllr Pantelic said she booked an appointment on the same day and the whole process took around 20 minutes. People who use the centre do not have to book an appointment in advance.
Upon arrival she was given a code which links to a member of staff standing in front of your car who talks through the process of swabbing your nostrils and throat.
Results will be returned within 24 to 48 hours. Cllr Pantelic added: “It’s really simple and easy, I tested negative so that was good.”
She also said she was feeling more positive about the council’s response to any potential outbreak after it received data which includes the postcodes of people tested.
Before this week she said the council was receiving pillar 1 and pillar 2 data but it did not include postcode data.
She said: “For us in Slough, I want to be confident that we know where those positive cases are as quickly as we can.
“We want to make sure the data we have is accurate and supports us in a scenario where we may have to have a local lockdown so we know where the outbreak is.”
Visit Slough Borough Council’s website to find out more about the test centre and the Goverment website to book a coronavirus test appointment.