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We have rolled out the Government's rapid COVID-19 community testing initiative to help drive down transmission rates.
With its targeted approach, community testing aims to reduce the prevalence of the virus. Around one in three people who have coronavirus do not display any symptoms so it's important that eligible people get tested if they can.
A test collection model for twice-weekly home testing starts in Wiltshire
There are seven local test collection sites that we have opened across Wiltshire, offering the option to collect lateral flow test kits for use at home:
Devizes Leisure Centre, which also continues to offer in-person asymptomatic testing which can be booked online
Bourne Hill in Salisbury
Monkton Park in Chippenham
Springfield Community Campus in Corsham
Calne Leisure Centre
The Vale Community Campus in Pewsey
Nadder Centre in Tisbury
These will open in line with the leisure centre and building opening hours so please check before you set off.
We will be setting up additional lateral flow test collection sites to bring the total to 10 local collection sites across the county, with the additional site locations still to be confirmed.
All of the lateral flow test collection sites around the county including our sites and pharmacies can be found on this map, which includes opening hours and the status of the site:
People can also continue to collect tests from the Salisbury Beehive Park and Ride site and the Trowbridge Greyhound Pub Car Park site, which both also offer asymptomatic testing, and more information on these sites is available on NHS Rapid Test Collection COVID-19 Test and Vaccination Site Finder.
The other ways that people can access lateral flow tests include:
a home ordering service, which allows people to order lateral flow tests online to be delivered to their home, or by calling 119 between 7am to 11pm if they cannot order online
workplace testing programmes, on-site or at home
testing at schools and colleges
Anyone who is asymptomatic can collect lateral flow tests at the collection sites without booking. This testing is being rolled out because around one in three people with COVID-19 do not have symptoms. Rapid lateral flow tests help to find cases in people who may have no symptoms but are still infectious and can give the virus to others.
The at home test kits are intended for use twice weekly, and results can be logged online. If the test result is positive with an at-home lateral flow test, people need to self-isolate immediately and take a PCR test to confirm the result. PCR tests can be booked through GOV.UK: Get a free NHS test to check if you have coronavirus.
If someone tests positive, they may also claim for a Test and trace support payment if they are eligible. Our Wiltshire Wellbeing Hub also remains in place for support for practical, social and emotional support, including help for those self-isolating due to a positive test or as a close contact where they don't have friends and family to help. You can call the hub on 0300 003 4576 or email wellbeinghub@wiltshire.gov.uk. It's open Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm and Saturday from 10am to 4pm.
People who have any symptoms of coronavirus should not use this service. Symptoms include a high temperature, a new, persistent cough or a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste. Free testing continues to be available to everyone in Wiltshire who has COVID-19 symptoms, and people who show symptoms must book a test online or call 119. Testing with symptoms is offered at the regional and local testing sites.
If anyone is unsure of what's involved with a lateral flow test, we recommend they book a test at the Devizes Leisure Centre test centre for an assisted test for support the first time.
Devizes community test centre for in-person lateral flow testing
Our in-person lateral flow testing programme at Devizes Leisure Centre, in partnership with the Department of Health and Social Care, is specifically aimed at asymptomatic people:
who work at small businesses (50 employees or less) who cannot work from home
who work private early years settings
who are childminders
students who are required to take a lateral flow test before going back to university
This is not to be confused with surge testing. Surge testing is increased testing (including door-to-door testing) and enhanced contact tracing in specific locations in England and is not currently taking place in Wiltshire
Have symptoms?
Free testing continues to be available to everyone in Wiltshire who has COVID-19 symptoms - high temperature, continuous cough or loss of/change in taste or smell. People should visit NHS Coronavirus or call 119 to book a test in that instance.
Those in smaller businesses (employees of 50 or less) who cannot work from home, and private (non-maintained) early years settings have been chosen because they are not currently involved in any other mass-testing scheme.
Anyone who receives a positive Lateral Flow Test result automatically activate legal obligations to self-isolate, and may also claim for a Test and Trace payment if they are eligible.
Book an in-person test at Devizes Leisure Centre
If you are in one of the targeted groups you can book a test below. If you have any COVID symptoms, please do not a book a test as part of this programme. In this instance, please visit NHS Coronavirus or call 119 to book a test.
Our Wiltshire Wellbeing Hub also remains in place for support, including help for those self-isolating due to a positive test or as a close contact where they don't have friends and family to help. The Hub will be able to provide advice or support for individuals who are required to self-isolate and need practical, social and emotional support.
You can call the hub on 0300 003 4576 or email wellbeinghub@wiltshire.gov.uk. It's open Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm and Saturday from 10am to 4pm.
Those who require help with tasks such as picking up food and other essentials, should ask friends or family or order online. If they do not have family, friends or a support network that can help, please contact the Wiltshire Wellbeing Hub and request help.
Even if you receive a negative test, please continue to follow all COVID measures - wash hands regularly, socially distance from other people, and wear a face covering where appropriate.
No, our community testing programme is for asymptomatic people.
Free testing continues to be available to everyone in Wiltshire. Please book a test if you have symptoms of Coronavirus - high temperature, continuous cough or loss of/change in taste or smell - at NHS Coronavirus or by calling 119.
You can call the 119 helpline for assistance with registering your test or reporting results
People with hearing or speech difficulties can call 18001119. This service is available to assist someone through the process of booking and taking a test but cannot provide clinical advice
A translation service via calling 119 is available for support throughout the testing process. 119 are able to support in up to 650 languages including British Sign language (BSL)
Frequently asked questions (testing at sites)
You can still access in-person testing at Devizes Leisure Centre.
Our community testing programme is aimed at smaller businesses (50 employees or less) where staff are unable to work from home.
It's also for early years staff based at private (non-maintained) settings, childminders, and students who are required to take a lateral flow test before going back to university.
The Department for Health recently published information about a new drive to increase workplace testing in sectors open during lockdown, in order to detect COVID-19 in people who are not showing symptoms.
Businesses can register to order Coronavirus (COVID-19) rapid lateral flow tests for employees if:
The business is registered in England.
The business employs 50 people or more.
Employees cannot work from home.
This service is not intended for use by employees who have symptoms. Anyone with symptoms should order an individual test and stay at home.
Businesses should register interest to participate in the scheme online.
No, our community testing programme is for asymptomatic people.
Free testing continues to be available to everyone in Wiltshire. Please book a test if you have symptoms of Coronavirus - high temperature, continuous cough or loss of / change in taste or smell - at NHS Coronavirus or by calling 119.
Devizes Leisure Centre, Southbroom Rd, Devizes SN10 5AB
No, surge testing is increased testing (including door-to-door testing) and enhanced contact tracing in specific locations in England. Surge testing is not currently taking place in Wiltshire.
No, you can attend any test centre, provided you have booked and eligible. We recommend you travel to the site nearest to where you live or work (whichever is more convenient)
It's recommended to try and get tested once a week if possible.
Please avoid eating or drinking for at least 30 minutes before taking the test to reduce the risk of spoiling the test.
Lateral flow antigen tests are a new kind of technology that can be used to test a higher proportion of asymptomatic people, better enabling us to identify and isolate more people who are at high likelihood of spreading virus, and break the chains of transmission.
A Lateral Flow Test (LFT) detects the presence or absence of coronavirus from a swab or saliva sample.
The sample is mixed with a buffer solution, which releases and breaks up virus fragments. Some of the solution is then dropped on to the lateral flow device. The sample runs along the surface of the devices' absorbent strip, showing at the end a visual positive or negative result dependent on the presence of the virus.
Greater testing turnout will increase the likelihood that Community Testing will reduce the prevalence of the disease and help protect communities as much as possible.
We aim to identify people who do not have Covid-19 symptoms but who are infectious and could spread the infection to others unknowingly. Identifying and supporting infectious people to isolate before they develop symptoms will help reduce spread.
No, it's entirely voluntary
No.
You must wear a face covering when you visit a symptom-free testing site. You should only remove your face covering when you are doing your swab.
You will be asked to take a test using a Lateral Flow Device to check if you are currently infectious with COVID-19.
You will be asked to do a throat and nose swab.
You will need to complete the swabbing yourself, supervised by a trained staff member who can assist if needed.
Full instructions will be provided to you upon your visit along with the test kit.
You will be asked to give consent to take the test and share personal information with us and register your details, so we can record and tell you your result.
You will then be asked to register for your test online with help from a staff member if needed
This is how NHS Test & Trace can link you to your test sample and collect contact details to send you your result.
Once you have handed over the swab, you will be asked to leave the test site and you can carry on your day.
Your result will be available within 30 mins of taking the test. They are point of care tests, so don't need to go to a lab to be processed. Your result will be sent to you via SMS and/or e-mail. Results will be communicated at the latest within a day of the test.
You are legally obliged to self-isolate following a positive LFT result.
The NHS digital team are working on a set of solutions to synchronise with the existing results notification system.
Antigen lateral flow tests are highly specific, which means that only a small proportion of people who do not have coronavirus will receive a positive result.
Extensive clinical evaluation from Public Health England and the University of Oxford shows that lateral flow tests are appropriate for large-scale population testing, including for asymptomatic people.
Lateral flow tests are validated technology, it is safe, inexpensive and the results are trusted.
Extensive clinical evaluation from Public Health England and the University of Oxford show Lateral Flow Tests
LFTs are specific and sensitive enough to be deployed for mass testing, including for asymptomatic people.
If you get a positive result, it is likely that you were infectious at the time the test was taken.
The antigen test cannot detect very low levels of coronavirus in a sample, so if you have only recently been infected, are in the incubation period, or if you have mostly recovered, the test may not give a positive result. Therefore, if you receive a negative test you cannot guarantee you haven't had or will get COVID-19.
It takes less than 15 minutes to administer the test.
The test should produce a result within half an hour
Lateral flow devices do not require a laboratory to process the test. Swabbing and processing of these tests must currently be conducted at a dedicated testing site by trained personnel.
The UK Government has been purchasing kits. The current position is that these will not be available to purchase on the market.
The cost per kit is not disclosed due to commercial confidentiality and sensitivities.
From 27 January 2021, LFT positive results now legally confirm diagnosis of COVID-19 and activate legal obligations to self-isolate and the ability to claim the Test & Trace Support Payment for those not self-reporting.
Before this date, a confirmatory PCR test was required.
NHS Test and Trace is working with government departments, institutions and employers across both public and private sectors to support delivery of asymptomatic testing to large organisations, including those providing critical services.
You must continue to follow the preventative measures currently recommended for stopping the spread of the virus.
To protect yourself and others, you must remember: Hands. Face. Space. Fresh air∙ Hands - wash your hands for 20 seconds with soap and water often, and as soon as you get home - use hand sanitiser gel if soap and water are not available. ∙ Face - wear a face covering in indoor settings where social distancing may be difficult, and where you will come into contact with people you do not normally meet. ∙ Space - stay at least 2 metres away from anyone you do not live with, or who is not in your support bubble. Fresh air - meet people outdoors.
With higher incidence of COVID-19 in the general population, expert public health advice is that there is limited value in a confirmatory PCR test. Regular staff testing, with self-isolation for those who test positive, helps to protect other staff from getting the virus and helps to reduce overall absences from work.
Wiltshire Council