The mobile COVID-19 testing unit is available at Phoenix Park, Wolverhampton, this week.
Free rapid testing is available, without appointment, for anyone who does not have symptoms of Covid-19, at Phoenix Park car park, off Dudley Road, in Blakenhall. The mobile testing unit will be open from 8am to 6pm from today (06 April) until Sunday 11 April. It will then move on to another location next week.
John Denley, Wolverhampton’s Director of Public Health, said: “Regular rapid testing is key to monitoring coronavirus infections in our city, as one in three people infected with coronavirus do not show symptoms yet may still pass it on.
“Asymptomatic testing is helping to stop the virus spreading further, so I would encourage everyone living in Wolverhampton to get a test regularly.”
As well as the mobile testing unit at Phoenix Park, free rapid testing for people without symptoms of Covid-19 is also available at:
The Civic Centre, St Peter's Square, Monday-Friday, 8am-7pm and Saturday and Sunday, 10am-6pm
The Jamia Masjid Bilal, Newhampton Road West, 10am-7pm daily
Pendeford Library, Monday-Friday, 7am-6pm, and Saturday and Sunday, 10am-6pm
The Hub at Ashmore Park, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 10am-6pm
St Joseph’s Church, Willenhall Road, Monday-Friday, 2pm-6pm
Meanwhile, people who work in a school or college; people who live with or are in a care or support bubble with someone at school or college; childcare providers; and people working in an occupation critical to the reopening or schools are reminded that they are eligible for home testing.
Free Covid-19 home test kits are available for collection from Pendeford Library (between 7am-11am daily), Ashmore Park Hub (between 8am-11am on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays) and the Civic Centre (between 10am-1pm on Saturdays and Sundays). People can collect up to two boxes – containing a total of 14 kits – at a time. The kits contain step-by-step instructions enabling people to complete their test from the comfort of home.
John added: “Alongside vaccination, regular testing is helping to suppress and control the spread of the virus, and is central to getting back to a more normal way of life.”
More information on rapid testing for people without symptoms of Covid-19 is available at www.wolverhampton.gov.uk/coronavirus-testing. Rapid testing is not available for people who have symptoms of Covid-19, including a fever, a new continuous cough or a change to the sense of taste or smell, or people who have been told to isolate. Anyone with symptoms should immediately self-isolate and book a PCR test by visiting www.gov.uk/get-coronavirus-test or calling 119.
Latest figures show there were 61.5 new cases of Covid-19 per 100,000 people in Wolverhampton over the seven days to 03 April. That means 143 people in the city tested positive for the virus in that seven-day period – though the true number of new cases will likely be higher.
