New walk-through coronavirus testing site opens in Wolverhampton

People with virus symptoms will now be able to book appointments at Whitmore Reans' library car park in the city.

The site, based on Bargate Drive, opened up on Thursday with appointments available each day.

It means there are now a total of seven testing sites – whether walk-through or drive-through – in the city overall.

The city also now has a rapid Covid testing centre at the Guru Nanak Sikh temple in Sedgley Street.

Councillor Jasbir Jaspal, Wolverhampton Council's cabinet member for public health and wellbeing, said: "We have worked incredibly hard, in partnership with the Department for Health and Social Care, to make Covid-19 testing available to anyone who needs it in Wolverhampton.

"We now have test centres at seven convenient locations right across the city and the message is clear, if you have symptoms, you simply must get tested."

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The Whitmore Reans test centre joins six other test sites in the city for people with symptoms of Covid-19 – a drive-through centre at Aldersley Leisure Village and walk-through centres at Faulkland Street, Showell Road and Blakenhall Community Resource Centre in Wolverhampton, the Sikh Community Centre on Rookery Street in Wednesfield, and at Mountford Lane in Bilston.

All sites are accessible via appointment only, except for the Faulkland Street centre which also has up to 50 tests per day available on a first come, first served basis for those without an appointment.

Innovations

Baroness Dido Harding, interim executive chairwoman of the National Institute for Health Protection, said: "Walk through sites offer communities better access to coronavirus testing, so everyone with symptoms can get a test.

"This new site is part of our ongoing work to expand our testing network across the UK which now has the capacity to process more than 500,000 tests a day.

"We will continue to expand capacity to improve test turnaround times and push forward testing innovations to make sure anyone who needs a test can get one.

"Please book a test if you have coronavirus symptoms: a new continuous cough, a high temperature and a loss or change in sense of smell or taste, and follow the advice of NHS Test and Trace if you are contacted."

Anyone with symptoms of Covid-19 is reminded to self-isolate and book a test online by visiting www.gov.uk/get-coronavirus-test or by calling 119.