Businesses in and around Abbey and Wembrook wards urged to take PCR tests

Following a small number of cases of a variant of concern known as the Indian variant being identified in the Abbey ward of Nuneaton, businesses are being urged to play their part in stemming transmission by asking staff to take one PCR test. 

The County Council is working with Public Health England, Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council and community organisations to increase the offer of testing in the postcodes that comprise Abbey and Wembrook wards, and are making available a large quantity of PCR tests. PCR tests are different to the rapid Lateral Flow tests in that they allow identification of specific strains of Covid.  Unlike Lateral Flow Tests, they are sent to NHS labs for analysis.  

Businesses are being asked to encourage all staff who live or work within the affected areas to take a PCR test.  A postcode checker to see affected areas can be found here.  

There are different ways for businesses of different sizes to order and return tests: 

Businesses with fewer than 50 staff are encouraged to signpost staff to take a PCR test in one of the following ways: 

• Book a test at one of the two PCR sites in Nuneaton. Book online at www.gov.uk/get-coronavirus-test  and select “my local authority has asked me to have a test”. Or ring 119 to book 

• Take a PCR test without booking at one of two temporary testing sites: Hammond Close, Centenary Business Centre, Attleborough Fields Industrial Estate CV11 6RY – 9am to 4pm, Monday to Friday; and from 20.5.21, at Barling Way, Eliot Park Innovation Centre, Bermuda Park, CV10 7RH. 

• Collect a PCR kit to self-test at home from Nuneaton United Reform Church, 2, Church Street (outside the Ropewalk), between 8 and 8 Monday to Friday, and 10-4 Saturday and Sunday. Completed tests can be dropped back to the site or posted in. 

• New Collect and Drop community locations are opening this week at Wembrook Community Centre, Manor Court Baptist Church and Edward Street Community Centre. Visit our website for more information on days and times, going live over the next few days: https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/information-coronavirus/enhanced-testing-covid-19 

•  You can also order a home test, and then post this back, or drop it at one of the Collect and Drop sites.  

• There is no need for people to isolate while they wait for results, as long as they do not show any symptoms. 

Businesses with more than 50 staff can receive a supply of PCR test kits for staff to use at home and bring in the next day for collection.  Please complete this online form to register to receive test kits. 

• People with Covid-19 symptoms - high temperature; new, continuous cough or loss or change to sense of smell or taste - should self-isolate along with their households and close contacts and arrange to take a PCR test through the usual channel by calling 119 or booking via the NHS website. 

Dr Shade Agboola, Warwickshire’s Director of Public Health, said: “Places of work can be a hot spot for transmission if appropriate action is not taken quickly.  

“We need to work together to contain the spread of the virus so we are asking businesses to do all they can to ensure that their employees take the PCR test.  This is not the rapid Lateral flow Test that so many people have been taking twice weekly and which has done so much to support the reduction in rates of the virus, and which we advise people to continue to take. The PCR test, which must be sent away for lab analysis, will pick up the new variant and enable us to quickly isolate cases and identify close contacts. Importantly the main messages of ensuring staff keep their distance, wash their hands, wear face coverings in public spaces and get their vaccine are as important now as ever.  

“We appreciate that this is another step for businesses who are facing many more demands than usual at the moment, but we need everyone to keep pulling together so that we can nip this small outbreak in the bud and carry on the roadmap out of lockdown.”