All residents in Cornwall urged to take rapid Covid tests at home twice a week
They are available to everyone over 18 with no coronavirus symptoms
Everyone in Cornwall is being urged to take a Covid-19 test at home twice a week to help stop the spread of the virus.
Previously the rapid-result ‘lateral flow tests’ (LFT) had only been offered to frontline and essential workers who can’t work from home, as well as schoolchildren and their families.
But they are now available to every adult in the country who is over the age of 18 and has no symptoms of coronavirus.
The test kits are easy to use and require people to simply swab their nose and throat and then wait 30 minutes for a result, which they register with NHS Test & Trace through an app or website.
“Twice-weekly rapid testing is a vital tool in helping to identify cases of Covid-19 we would otherwise not find.
“With one in three people with the virus showing no symptoms and potentially spreading it without knowing, twice-weekly rapid testing enables us to find these cases and prevent the spread of infection. Anyone who tests positive can self-isolate immediately and avoid passing the virus on to others.”
Rachel Wigglesworth, Director of Public Health for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly
There are several ways people in Cornwall with no symptoms can access rapid testing:
• You can get tested at drive-through sites in Camborne, St Austell or Liskeard - book here.
• You can also pick up tests to take home at a number of collection sites. Find your nearest one here. (Some only open after 2.30pm).
• You may be able to collect a testing kit from a local pharmacy. Check here to see if there is a pharmacy in your area with test kits.
• If you can’t make use of these options, then you can order tests to be delivered to your home here.
Anyone who tests positive with an LFT must self-isolate immediately and arrange to have a confirmatory PCR test by visiting www.gov.uk/get-coronavirus-test or calling 119.
However, it is important to note that while a positive LFT test result is a red light, a negative result is not a green light to drop your guard against Covid-19 and do as you please.
Anyone receiving a negative test should recognise that no test is 100% accurate and further reduce the risk of onward transmission by continuing to follow the social distancing guidelines, ‘hands, face, space and fresh air’, and keep to the rules.
Rachel added: “Getting into the habit of twice-weekly testing needs to become part of our everyday lives. This alongside having the vaccine, following the ‘roadmap’ rules and remembering ‘hands, face, space and fresh air’, will help us all play our part in keeping each other safe and ensuring we can continue to ease our way out of lockdown."