A walk-in mobile testing unit will be available at Clifton Street Car Park Close to St Helens Town Centre from Wednesday 12 to Friday 14 August for appointments.
The facility can also accommodate cars and is strictly by appointment only and is open to anyone who wants to get a test, whether you are experiencing symptoms or if you think you may have come into close contact with someone who has tested positive.
If you have any of these symptoms, even very mildly – continuous cough, high temperature or a loss of or change in their normal sense of smell or taste – you should book a test and isolate for 10 days.
The mobile testing unit will operate by appointment only; anyone who attempts to turn up at the testing facility without an appointment will be turned away.
You can apply for a test online at https://self-referral.test-for-coronavirus.service.gov.uk/antigen/name or by calling NHS 119. Essential workers, and members of their household can apply for priority testing through GOV.UK. If you do not have symptoms but are concerned you might have come in to contact with someone who has had a positive test it is recommended to use the online referral system.
Councillor Anthony Burns, Cabinet Member for Public Health, Leisure, Libraries, Arts and Heritage at St Helens Borough Council, said: “This mobile testing unit is a good example of how partners across health and care are working together locally to respond to COVID-19. It is so important to be able to offer testing for the virus close to home for essential workers in the St Helens area who are doing so much for us all, helping them to continue to support our local response to coronavirus. By increasing testing locally, we hope to identify those most at risk from coronavirus and take the next steps to defeating the virus.”
Sue Forster, Director of Public Health in St Helens, said: “We know that this situation is a difficult time for people. Through testing we can understand more about the scale of this situation and how the virus is behaving, which will help us to bring normal life back again.
“Mobile testing sites help us to prioritise, by adding additional capacity for a short time where it will have the most benefit.”
A time slot and the location of the mobile unit will be provided upon booking. Instructions on how to take the test and how and when people they will receive their results will be provided when taking the test. People without a booking will be turned away – without exception.
Alternatively there is also testing available at Haydock Park Racecourse which is also available to book through the same channels.
