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image captionRedbridge Council will be offering door-to-door PCR home testing in the affected areas
Surge testing is taking place in parts of east London after two cases of the South African Covid variant were found.
People living in Redbridge, east London, are being encouraged to get themselves tested to prevent the mutant strain spreading further.
Testing will be carried out in the IG1 and IG6 postcode areas and small parts of the IG5 and IG7 postcode areas, the Department of Health said.
The government said the people who had tested positive were self-isolating.
Parts of the IG1 postcode include the Cranbrook, Valentines and Ilford Town wards, while the areas of the IG6 postcode cover the Aldborough, Barkingside, Fairlop and Fullwell wards.
People who do not have symptoms can also get tested seven days a week by visiting Ken Aston Square (140 High Street, Barkingside, Ilford IG6 2EA) from 9am to 3pm, Mildmay Road Car Park (1 Mildmay Rd, Ilford, IG1 1HW) from 8am to 8pm, or Gants Hill Library Car Park (Cranbrook Road, Ilford, IG2 6SX) from 8am to 8pm.
The weekly number of Covid-19 cases in Redbridge is falling and the latest figures show the infection rate as 25.2 per 100,000 people for the seven days ending on April 25.
Redbridge s director of public health, Gladys Xavier, urged everyone who lives or works in the affected areas to take a test to identify if there are any further cases.
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People without symptoms can get a rapid Covid-19 test at Redbridge Central Library starting Friday.
- Credit: PA
Starting tomorrow (Friday, December 18) rapid-result Covid-19 tests will be available to Redbridge residents who don t have any symptoms but would still like to be tested.
The Lateral Flow Device (LFD) testing site, where anyone with or without Covid-19 symptoms can be tested, will be located at Redbridge Central Library.
The site will be open for walk-in appointments starting on Friday for people who are not displaying Covid-19 symptoms but want to check if they have the virus.
These tests are one of the new tools being used to help to detect and fight Covid-19.