Shropshire Star

Officials drawing up plans for use of rapid Covid tests

Plans are being drawn up for the use of high-speed Covid tests on people who are not showing symptoms.

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The tests can give a result within 30 minutes.

Although the plans from Telford & Wrekin Council's health officials are at an early stage, the 'lateral flow tests' would provide results within 30 minutes.

The council is looking at using the tests to target groups where people may have caught the virus and are not displaying symptoms – leading to asymptomatic transmission, and potentially more spread of the virus in the community.

They could be used to test groups such as factory workers or where there are sections of vulnerable people.

The government has made the tests available to local authorities across the country.

It comes as the number of positive results in Telford & Wrekin has again risen significantly, with concerns over the amount people in the over 60s category who are getting infected – as the rate of infection for the age bracket in the borough has reached 202 cases per 100,000, higher than the West Midlands average.

The over 60s are considered at higher risk of suffering complications from the virus and getting seriously ill.

Liz Noakes, director of public health for Telford & Wrekin Council, urged people with symptoms, no matter how mild, to arrange tests immediately.

She said there was space for appointments at the borough's two drive-in and five walk-through centres.

Mrs Noakes said the authority was in the early stages of drawing up plans on how they could use the rapid lateral flow tests.

She said: "The idea is that you can have targeted asymptomatic testing, if there is an area where you think there is asymptomatic transmission you can target and hopefully break that chain of transmission."

Explaining how the tests could be used Mrs Noakes said: "It might be you have a shift on a factory floor where there have been cases and people having to isolate, then they come back and it repeats itself. We might go in and it looks like all their controls are in place, they are managing it properly, so we could then test the whole shift."

Mrs Noakes said the tests would not be "the magic bullet" and are just one element of stopping the spread of cases, combined with regular testing, and following guidelines on social distancing.

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