Workers who have difficulty distancing are being encouraged to have twice-weekly rapid tests for Covid-19 at a new community testing site in Torbay.
The centre is in the car park of the Splashdown Quaywest water park at Goodrington, off the A379 Dartmouth Road at Paignton.
It was put up in just two days and a new small team has been recruited to join the front line of the campaign to tackle Covid-19. The community test site is for workers who are asymptomatic - not showing any symptoms.
It is designed to find the one in three people who have the virus without symptoms, to help suppress the spread of the virus. Community testing is for staff of businesses who cannot work from home, and are most at risk of infection.
They are asked to take a twice-weekly test, using the drive-through site, and they will receive the result by text within an hour. The community test site at Goodrington is the first phase of a programme which is planned to include mobile testing units closer to businesses.
Torbay Council, who set up the site, says businesses being targeted first for community testing are those where employees are most at risk from infection due to the difficulty of distancing in their workplace, such as fishers, nursery workers, some factory workers and frontline staff.
Workplaces with more than 50 staff can register under a Government scheme, and smaller firms can register an interest to arrange on-site testing through the local authority.
The twice-weekly testing of workers is designed to find more positive cases, keeping key workers from unknowingly passing on the virus, and protecting services.
The Quay West site is strictly for asymptomatic testing - for people without Covid symptoms - and uses the speedy Lateral Flow Device test which gives a result in 30 minutes. Tests are by appointment only and must be booked through the council’s website.
Anyone with Covid symptoms needs a different test and should book that using the gov.uk website. That will allow them to access a test at the Covid test centre across the main road in the car park of the Torbay Leisure Centre, which sends off the sample to a lab.
The community testing site was put together in two days by specialist contractor Aardvark, based at Dunchideock, on Haldon Hill near Exeter, working with Torbay Council project manager Will Harris. After a trial day, it opened to the public on Tuesday, March 2, a week after Torbay Council was given Government approval to go ahead.
I was given a tour of the site and shown the process by supervisor Beki Roberts, a Teignmouth resident who joined the Torbay team after helping to establish the asymptomatic testing centre in County Hall in Exeter.
People have to book a test at the community testing centre using the council’s website. It is a live service, and if slots are available, they can go straight to the site after making an appointment.
When people arrive, they are greeted by a steward at the car park entrance to check they are booked in. They then drive up to the centre, where they see another steward who checks their details and hands over a registration card.
The person being tested then scans a QR code on the card using their mobile phone, which takes them to the Government’s testing service website.
They register their personal details, using a unique barcode on the card, and when that process is complete, they drive forward to one of the testing bays. If people don’t have a phone, or cannot get signal, the site can offer them phones to use.
They are met in the covered and screened-off bay by two assistants dressed in full personal protective equipment. They are handed a tissue to blow their nose, then are given a swab, like a long thin version of a cotton bud.
The person being tested has to carry out the swab themselves, and are advised to use their rear-view mirror to make sure they are doing it in the right place. First it goes into the mouth, and the soft end is rubbed on the tonsils, five seconds each side, and it is then inserted gently into one nostril and twisted round for 10 seconds.
A gag response and a sneeze are normal reactions, and show that it has been done right. The aim is to get enough fluid onto the swab so that any virus particles present will show up when the test is carried out in the on-site mini laboratory.
The swab is handed back to the test staff, who put it into a container and pass it to the lab. The person being tested can then leave, as the test result is produced after 30 minutes and is then sent out via text and email from the NHS system.
That’s how the result is delivered so quickly - staff in the temperature controlled unit, which has to be kept at around 28 degrees, test the sample, using a special fluid designed to indicate the virus.
I carried out a test myself, as there was spare capacity on the afternoon I visited and as a journalist covering the pandemic, I am classed as an essential worker. I did the swab which produced a gag and sneeze, as expected, but it was over quickly. Sure enough, the result arrived by text 30 minutes after my test, and was negative.
The message said: “Your coronavirus lateral flow test result is negative. It’s likely you were not infectious when the test was done.” The text added that I should keep following the coronavirus advice, including regular handwashing, social distancing and wearing a face covering where recommended, and included links to more advice.
The site currently has capacity to carry out 240 tests a day, with six tests every 15 minutes, although it can be scaled up to 320 a day. Plans are also being drawn up for mobile testing units for businesses with more than 50 staff.
The council is keen to stress that the process is straightforward and quick, and people do not have to leave their car. The texting of the result means they can leave as soon as they have handed over their swab.
Site manager for Aardvark, Steve Arnold, of Topsham, said: “From a personal point of view, it is a great opportunity to get involved in something that is going to get the country back on track. Everyone here is part of the big picture, working towards the point when we can go back to bars and go on holiday.”
Julia Chisnell, consultant in public health with Torbay Council, said: “One in three people who’ve got Covid have no symptoms, so it’s really important to pick those up, and this is a brilliant way of doing this.
“It’s a very quick Lateral Flow Test. You drive through here, you do a test in a few minutes and you drive away, and within an hour you get texted your result to say whether it’s positive or negative.
“We’re really encouraging people who have to go out to work to get their regular asymptomatic test done here.”
The asymptomatic test for people without symptoms can been booked at the community testing site using a link on the Torbay Council website, which has more information about the process.
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