Moy Park joins pilot scheme for rapid tests
ONE of Ashbourne’s biggest employers is taking part in a pilot scheme aimed at developing rapid Covid-19 testing technology.
Moy Park’s poultry processing sites in Blenheim Road will be trialling lateral flow devices, which are hoped to ramp up coronavirus testing enough to allow the country to get back to normal.
The firm, which is based in Ireland, has teamed up with the Department of Health and Social Care to pilot the system on all its sites, as part of the Government’s Ukwide drive to introduce mass testing.
The pilot aims to provide vital information to help inform further rollout of the rapid testing technology in future.
All staff and visitors to the Ashbourne sites who are asymptomatic are now able to be tested.
With around one in three individuals with Covid-19 not displaying symptoms, testing quickly identifies those that need to isolate. Tests provide results within 30 minutes and feed directly into the national testing database.
Kirsty Wilkins, HR and performance director at Moy Park, said: “We are proud to be playing our part to help tackle the spread of coronavirus by participating in the Department of Health and Social Care’s rapid testing pilot programme.
“Rapid asymptomatic testing is considered an important element of the national strategy to tackle the pandemic and this pilot will allow DHSC to gather more data to help define the best strategy moving forward, protecting those most vulnerable in our society.
“Safety is a condition at Moy Park and we continue to maintain the highest level of vigilance to stop the virus coming into our facilities and help prevent its transmission. Participation in the pilot scheme runs in tandem with the rigorous safety protocols we have in place such as thermal temperature scanning, enhanced cleaning and hygiene regimes, Perspex screens, additional PPE and social distancing measures.”
Health Minister Lord Bethell said: “We’ve already come so far since first setting up a national testing programme at an unprecedented pace to help counter Covid-19, but we continue to strive to go further, faster. “Innovations such as LFD testing hold the key to the next phase of our ambition to see mass, rapid testing available to people across the country.
“I’m delighted that Moy Park is working with us to pilot the latest technology and I look forward to seeing the fruits of their labour, both in helping target the virus locally, and helping find ways to roll this technology out further soon.”
Baroness Dido Harding, interim executive chair of the National Institute for Health Protection, said: “NHS Test and Trace continues to play a leading role in the fight against Covid-19 with more than 32 million tests processed so far.
“The work of Moy Park across its sites will be essential in helping us explore the benefits of new technology in LFD testing.
“This pilot is one of many which will lay the foundations for the next phase of NHS Test and Trace – rapid testing - which will allow us to test even more people, even more quickly.”
The work of Moy Park will be essential in helping us explore the benefits of new technology in LFD testing.