Take advantage of Dudley symptom-free testing

17 Dec 2020

As many as 1 in 3 people with Covid-19 have no symptoms so it’s important that you and your staff get tests, which will provide not only reassurance to your co-workers, but your customers too.

The symptom-free testing is being delivered in partnership by Dudley Council and NHS Test and Trace and is available at Saltwells Education Centre and selected borough pharmacies.

People without symptoms will be given free tests to help identify if they are asymptomatic and risk accidently spreading the virus to others. This will help break the chain of transmission and reduce the spread of the virus.

Advantages for workplaces

  • By proactively testing asymptomatic individuals, it increases the potential to not only break chains of transmission, but also help to protect and enable our critical businesses, key workers and institutions to continue operating as effectively as possible
  • For those opting for a lateral flow test, this test is a quick and easy procedure and the results back are extremely quickly (20 to 30 minutes)
  • Allows employers to provide assurance to their staff that their risk of infection through the workplace is being minimised

What are lateral flow tests?
Lateral flow tests are rapid tests which provide results in less than an hour and are often compared in appearance to a home pregnancy kit. LFTs are administered by someone placing a nose or throat swab into a tube with a reagent liquid to create a solution. 

This solution is then dropped onto a test cartridge which contains antibodies to coronavirus; if the solution from the swab contains coronavirus, that bonds with the antibodies and a chemical reaction creates a coloured line inside the cartridge window which indicates a positive result.  

Where a person has a positive result from a lateral flow test, they will require a secondary test (PCR test) which needs to be booked at one of the borough’s Local Test Sites (LTSs) or Mobile Testing Units (MTUs).  See next section for further details.

 

How to book a test

Tests are free of charge and can be booked quickly and easily.


Saltwells Education Centre

Selected pharmacies