Rapid Covid-19 testing available now

Employers with staff unable to work from home are encouraged to use North Somerset Council’s rapid Covid-19 testing service.  The three centres, at Weston-super-Mare, Portishead, and Nailsea, operate 8.30am-5pm seven days a week, with evening opening until 7.30pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays, for anyone who lives or works in North Somerset.  Businesses with staff unable to work from home during the current lockdown, which do not already have access to rapid testing, can use these centres to help keep Covid-19 out of the workplace with twice weekly testing for their employees.

Rapid testing, which takes around five minutes to do and gives results in under an hour, helps find people who are infectious with Covid-19 but do not have symptoms. This allows them to isolate, taking the virus out of the community and stopping the spread.  As a negative test is only as good as the moment it is taken, it cannot be used as a reason to avoid following Covid safety guidelines. It is vital those who test negative continue to wash their hands, wear a face covering if they can, keep at least 2m away from anyone not in their household or social bubble, and follow lockdown rules.

North Somerset rapid testing is for people aged 16 and over who do not have symptoms of coronavirus. For more information, site locations, and to book visit www.n-somerset.gov.uk/rapidtesting.