Army hands over mobile testing to paramedics

Mobile testing units which have been run by the army during the corona virus pandemi care being officially handed over to the Scottish Ambulance Service today.

Since late April, soldiers have conducted 100,000 Covid-19 tests in communities around Scotland, from Wick to Dumfries and from Fife to the Isle of Bute, as part of the Department of Health and Social Care’s Uk-wide testing pro - gramme. The highest number of people tested at an army run Mobile Testing Unit (MTU) on one day was 773.

The army said the soldiers’ work has been instrumental in maintaining the safety of communities across Scotland, as part of the integrated response to coronavirus.

Scottish Secretary A lister Jack said :“I would like to thank all the troops who have worked so hard to run the units for the past few months. We are all very grateful for their work. The UK Government is boosting Covid testing capacity in Scotland.

“This includes providing six drive through sites, the Lighthouse mega-lab in Glasgow and the opening of the walkin testing site in St Andrews.

“This is on top of testing capacity provided by the Scottish Government”.