Self-cleaning, walk-through test centres suit people without cars

A self- cleaning , walkthrough coronavirus testing centre has opened in Dundee, with hopes it will help people without a car to get tested.

The facility is situated at the Park Place car park in the city centre and is now one of eight walkthrough sites north of the border.

It uses a system of connec ted trailers as cubicles that are cleaned using dry ice – making it the first self-cleaning site in Scotland, which will also help increase capacity.

Baroness Dido Harding, interim executive chairwoman of the National Institute for Health Protection, said:

“The UK Government’s new walk- through sites offer communities better access to coronavirus testing so everyone with symptoms can get a test.

“This new site is part of our ongoing work to expand testing across the UK to deliver 500,000 tests a day by the end of October.

“Please book a test if you have coronavirus symptoms: a new continuous cough, a high temperature and a loss or change in sense of smell or taste.

“Ever ybody should continue to think hands, face, space, and follow the advice of contact tracers if you are contacted – this is the only way we can return to a more normal way of life,” she added.

Another walk- through centre is expected to open in Sighthill, Edinburgh, today, while others are scheduled to open soon in Inverness, Greenock, Elgin and Fort William.

Scotland also has six drive- through sites, 21 mobile units and the Glasgow Lighthouse Lab, which processes samples at the city’ s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.

UK Government Scotland Minister Iain Stewart said: “The UK Government is helping all parts of the UK fight the coronavirus pandemic.”