New Covid-19 test site for key staff up and running at Derry rugby club

The Judges Road site is being used as part of the London Government’s United Kingdom-wide drive to increase testing for thousands more National Health Service and other key workers.

The utilisation of the venue follows the launch of the London Government’s partnership with universities, research institutes and companies to begin rollout of a network of new ‘lighthouse’ labs and field testing sites across the UK.

The Department of Health and Social Care in England says the network will provide thousands more polymerase chain reaction (PCR) swab tests - which are used to identify if you currently have the virus - for critical key workers, starting with NHS front line staff.

The City of Derry Rugby Club testing centre is being operated in partnership with Serco, and is offering self-administered tests. Those tested will receive their results within a few days.

Health Minister James Bethell said: “The Government is rapidly scaling up the national effort to boost testing capacity for coronavirus to protect the vulnerable, support our NHS, and ultimately save lives.

“This new service will help end the uncertainty of whether NHS and social care staff need to stay at home meaning those who test negative will be able to return to work.

“This is a national effort and we are proud to be working with a number of partners to turn this ambition into a reality and roll out additional capacity to where it is needed.”

Professor John Newton, National Coordinator for the UK Coronavirus Testing Strategy, said: “New testing sites such as this one are a key pillar of our 5-pillar plan to scale up testing, and are critical in supporting NHS staff who are isolating at home to return safely to work if the test is negative.

“This is a brilliant example of industries and businesses turning their resources to creating and rolling out mass testing at scale, which will help to deliver on our aim of carrying out 100,000 tests a day across the UK by the end of the month.”

City of Derry Rugby Club advised the public that it was providing the venue while underlining the fact that it is being operated by the health authorities.

“Regarding the Covid-19 testing site at the grounds of City of Derry, City of Derry Rugby Football Club are only providing the venue for the Central Government testing programme for Covid-19.

“This is an appointment only service provided for healthcare staff and can only be availed off when the health and social care trusts sends a member of staff for testing,” the club stated.

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