Soldiers help roll out test-and-trace kits to the most vulnerable
WELSH soldiers have swapped Trooping the Colour to help roll out coronavirus test-and-trace kits to the most vulnerable.
Troops from the Welsh Guards have helped to deliver test kits to care homes and to key workers in England to check whether or not they are free from Covid-19.
They have also been running mobile testing units since April and have been carrying out 600,000 tests UK-wide.
Afghanistan veteran Peter Turner, 28, from Bridgend, who has been on tours right across the world, said: “It is important we’ve been involved in mobile testing, supporting and reassuring members of the public at this difficult time.”
The Windsor-based regiment has been signed up from the start to work alongside NHS staff and civilians.
Members of the battalion were taught how to deliver testing and have been sent out to regional testing sites in Wembley and Chessington and then in the widespread pop-up mobile testing role.
They have served alongside testing teams from the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment and musicians from the Bands of the Household Division offering testing in every borough in London and surrounding areas in closed communities and delivering test kits to care homes.
It took seven days for military engineers to design the units, with the first on the road and performing tests just hours after it was set up.
Lance Sergeant Lee Skates, 30, from Gelli, Rhondda, said: “Whilst mobile testing for coronavirus isn’t something we expected to be assisting with initially, it demonstrates the ability of the Welsh Guards to prepare and deploy to support in any environment we are needed.
“The soldiers involved with mobile testing units have helped members of the public go through self-administered testing, which for some is a daunting experience and our presence has provided reassurance.”
He first joined the Welsh Guards in 2007 and has been a member of the mortar platoon since 2008, along with Trooping the Colour on the Queen’s Birthday Parade with the Welsh Guards in both 2008 and 2015.
Guardsman Kallum Richards, 22, from Ammanford, said: “Assisting with mobile testing has definitely been something different and a new and interesting challenge for us all.
“The public support has been fantastic and I wish the civilian contractors who we are handing over to every success in future testing at this crucial time for our country.”