Coronavirus: People urged to get tested amid surge in West Midlands cases
People who have coronavirus symptoms have been urged by leaders to get tested amid a surge in positive cases across the West Midlands.
Birmingham has seen a spike in cases, prompting concern from leaders across the region over a local lockdown – with cases in the Black Country still remaining high.
Leaders in the region have warned of a “very notable increase” and have warned additional restrictions could be imposed in Birmingham.
The city has already been placed on the Government’s watchlist as “an area of enhanced support” with leaders given more resources to increase testing.
The rise in positive cases has seen an array of test centres popping up across the Black Country and Birmingham – including a walk-in centre at Walsall Town Hall.
Other testing centres include a drive-through at Aldersley Leisure Village in Wolverhampton, on Temple Street in West Bromwich, with a facility set to be launched at Flood Street in Dudley later this month.
Figures from NHS Digital show Wolverhampton record 71 new positive cases in the week up to September 5, with a rate of 27.1 per 100,000.
Dudley recorded 55 new cases and a rate of 17.2 per 100,000 and Walsall saw 52 new cases and a rate of 18.4 per 100,000.
Sandwell saw 74 positive cases recorded with a rate of 22.6 per 100,000, according to the data from NHS Digital.
Baroness Dido Harding, interim executive chairwoman of the National Institute for Health Protection, insisted the testing system was working, adding: “Getting a test is now faster and easier than ever.
“Local sites will mean anyone who has symptoms can get a free test quickly to find out whether they have the virus and need to stay at home, or can safely return to work and get back to the things they love.
"More than 95 per cent of people will get their results the next day.
“And anyone who tests positive will be contacted by NHS Test and Trace to help to prevent the spread of the virus.”
