Covid Testing for all twice weekly:

Everyone in Cornwall is being urged to take a Covid-19 test at home twice a week to help stop the spread of the virus.

Until now, the rapid-result ‘lateral flow tests’ have only been offered to frontline and essential workers who can’t work from home, as well as schoolchildren and their families.

But from Friday, April 9, they are being made available to every adult in the country who is over the age of 18 and not showing any symptoms of coronavirus.

The test kits are easy to use and require people to simply swab their nose and throat and then wait 20 to 30 minutes for a result, which they register with NHS Test & Trace through an app or website.

One in three people with the virus show no symptoms meaning they go about their daily lives unaware they are spreading it.

These rapid tests help identify asymptomatic cases so they can self-isolate and stop the spread.

There are a number of ways people can access rapid testing:

• Drive-through sites in Camborne, St Austell or Liskeard – book here: https://getatest.vdt.app/cc
• Collection sites. Find your nearest one here: https://find-covid-19-rapid-test-sites.maps.test-and-trace.nhs.uk/
  
• Collection from pharmacies. Check here to see if there is one in your area here: https://maps.test-and-trace.nhs.uk/
  
• If you can’t make use of these options, you can order tests to be delivered to your home here: www.gov.uk/order-coronavirus-rapid-lateral-flow-tests
  

Anyone who tests positive with an LFT must self-isolate immediately for 10 days and arrange to have a confirmatory PCR test by visiting https://www.gov.uk/get-coronavirus-test or by calling 119.

The more people who get into the habit of testing twice a week, the quicker we can ease our way out of lockdown.