Door to door testing to begin 'in days' after new variant of Covid19 discovered in Southport
Scientists have identified the South African version of the virus in Sefton
Door to door Coronavirus testing is due to begin in the next couple of days after a more contagious variant of the virus was discovered in Merseyside.
It's after it was revealed Scientists had identified a mutation of the virus from South Africa in Southport.
Mobile testing hubs are being set up and swabs are set to be delivered for people to carry out home tests in a bid to control the spread of the infection before it gets out of hand.
Director of Public Health at Sefton Council - Margaret Jones - says it's important to get on top of the variant before it gets out of control :
"We don't have any clear link to travel in and out of South Africa so we need to try and find out a bit more about how many cases we might have. We might do this testing and find out we don't have any other cases.
"PCR testing that people will be familiar with, it's the same swabbing method we use but we have to target this if you don't have any symptoms as we have to try to find out the level of infection in the community.
This is something that is worthwhile doing. It's very much a team effort. We will be dropping off testing kits to peoples homes but those people who can get out and have a legitimate reason to go out can come to the mobile testing units. It will be running from the middle of the week, through the end of the week and over the weekend into next week."