ASYMPTOMATIC residents who believe they may have coronavirus will be able to check as a new fast testing centre has opened. The Tendring Testing Centre, located at the Long Meadows Community Centre, in Dovercourt, is now officially in operation and will be used to roll out lateral flow tests. Unlike the polymerase chain reaction test, which has to be sent to a laboratory, the lateral flow test delivers results within 30 minutes. The handheld kit uses either fluid from a nasal swab or saliva but, like a pregnancy test, produces a clear marking indicating whether or not someone has Covid-19. The new centre, which could prove vital in the fight against Covid-19, is among the first of its kind and is specifically for people without symptoms but who are concerned they may have the virus.
Covid swab tests rolled out for residents without symptoms in Tendring COVID-19 swab tests for residents who do not have symptoms of the virus are being rolled out across Tendring this week. Anyone without symptoms can pick up a free test, known as a PCR test, from Clacton Leisure Centre. They then take the test, before dropping it back to the centre to be sent off for processing, with no appointment needed. As part of a joint programme with Essex County Council and the Department for Health and Social Care, the tests are targeted at people without symptoms who cannot work from home, and their families, provided they live or work in the Tendring district.