Council’s Swab Squad pilots rapid testing advice in supermarkets

Cheshire East Council’s Swab Squad, a team dedicated to supporting both residents and local business with Covid-19 testing, is piloting a new rapid testing service across the borough.

A new mobile pop-up service to offer a walk-in collection service for rapid symptom-free home testing kits will be located at Asda in Crewe tomorrow (6 May), with other pop-up services being trialled at Tesco and Morrisons in Crewe later in the month.

Operating from 10am–2pm, (weather dependent), the squad will be on hand to answer any questions that residents may have about the kits before they are taken home. 

Residents will be aware that this Thursday is polling day, therefore this mobile unit provides an excellent opportunity to collect home testing kits and receive any advice needed, while out and about visiting their nearest polling station in Crewe.

Dr Matt Tyrer, director of public health for Cheshire East Council, said: “This is the latest of a number of trials that we are conducting to help increase access to these rapid tests and to make sure that we are targeting our resources to locations that suit residents best.

“We recognise that home testing plays a crucial role as part of our wider testing programme. We believe that home testing provides a convenient and easily accessible solution for many, while our assisted service at our testing sites provide a simple and streamlined process, producing high-quality results for reporting and monitoring purposes.

“Our Swab Squad will be on hand at the mobile units offering advice and information about our testing programme, including: where you can get a test, how to carry out the tests, how often and what to do next in the event of a positive result.

“If the pilot is successful, we will look to increase the service to be able to test on site, look at new locations and increase our number of mobile vans.”

For regular news and updates about this new service and other local testing facilities available residents can follow the Swab Squad on their Twitter page @CEC_SwabSquad

For full details about the council’s testing facilities for both asymptomatic and symptomatic testing visit their web page https://www.cheshireeast.gov.uk/council_and_democracy/council_information/coronavirus/testing-for-covid-19.aspx