A HUGE new Covid-19 test centre - strictly for pupils - is being set up in Southend as part of a drive to get schools open again on March 8. Southend Leisure and Tennis Centre, at Garon Park off Eastern Avenue could soon be available to students as a school-only testing facility. The move comes as Southend Council urged whole families to attend community testing sites in the week prior to each child returning to school. Southend’s director of public health, Krishna Ramkhelawon said: “I must stress this won’t be open for the public, people shouldn’t be turning up there. It would be strictly only for the kids.”
Ian Gilbert, the leader of Southend Council, said he is “watching closely” at how the door to door testing is being rolled out in Surrey. He said: “I want it to be led by council teams, not in central Government. We know the area better. “We’re looking at the areas which have had positive cases of the new strain. “You have to plan for the worst case scenario.” Eleven areas of the country have seen cases of the new variant, with these postcodes being “surged with tests”, according to Health Secretary Matt Hancock. Homeowners have now been warned not to open their doors to scammers pretending to be from the public health team.
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