Targeted asymptomatic testing is an important part of the efforts by Kent County Council and our partners to contain and ultimately reduce the alarmingly high levels of Covid-19 infections in the County. (This is alongside local contact tracing, communications and enforcement measures).
Earlier in the month, we secured military logistical support for testing, though we had been in talks on this for some time prior to entering Tier 3. At the weekend, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) confirmed its support for large-scale asymptomatic testing in Tier 3 areas. KCC has been working with District and Borough Councils and securing sites, and the first two will commence operations this coming Friday, 18 December. They will be in areas of very high infection incidence, in Halfway on the Isle of Sheppey and Ramsgate. People will be invited to take the test by letter or email.
Further sites will be rolled out in the near future, with the aim to have two sites in each District. Both the priority given to Districts and the location of the sites will be determined by infection levels.
As is clear from the figures updated daily on KCC’s website, infection levels across the county continue to increase, with all Districts now above the national average and the County as a whole two and a half times that level. Tomorrow’s national announcement about tiering levels will clearly not bring any relief to the County’s Tier 3 status. There is a lot to do to turn this round.
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