LISTED: This is everywhere you can get a rapid Covid test in Colchester COLCHESTER residents have been encouraged to get a rapid Covid test after strains of the Indian Covid variant were detected in the area. Also known as the B.1.617.2 strain, the Indian Covid variant is believed to be more transmissible than other forms of Covid. The Indian variant was discovered in Essex in late April, and has since been tracked by the Wellcome Sanger Institute (WSI). Dr Mike Gogarty, Essex County Council s director of public health, admitted in an interview with BBC Essex that he was “worried” about the spread of the variant.