Worcester Cathedral is opening its door to residents who want to get a free rapid Covid-19 test in Worcestershire.
Rapid lateral flow testing, in partnership with the Department of Health and Social Care, will be available to residents who don’t have any symptoms, at Worcester Cathedral between 10am and 5.45pm, Monday to Saturday. The aim is to help drive down transmission rates.
Testing will be available for people with no symptoms aged 18 and over, at The Cathedral from Wednesday 3rd February.
Appointments must be pre-booked using this online booking link https://www.worcestershire.gov.uk/LateralFlowTesting
Around one in three people who are infected with Covid-19 have no symptoms so could be spreading the disease without knowing it. Broadening testing to identify people without symptoms, means finding positive cases more quickly, and breaking the chains of transmission.
Rapid-turnaround lateral flow tests are a new type of technology, which provide results within an hour. Lateral flow devices do not require a laboratory to process the test.
Dr Kathryn Cobain, Director for Public Health in Worcestershire said: “The Cathedral is such an iconic building, I am delighted it is going to be used as a Rapid Flow Testing centre. This will add to our efforts to reduce the spread of the virus and will mean even more choice of venues for those wanting to get a rapid test in the city.”
Councillor John Smith, cabinet member for Health and Wellbeing added: “I couldn’t think of a more appropriate building to join us in tackling Coronavirus. The Cathedral has been a central part of the community for over fourteen centuries, and it is great to see it taking a role, as part of the response to the pandemic.”
The Dean of Worcester, Peter Atkinson said: “After taking the difficult decision to suspend public worship at Worcester Cathedral to help contain the spread of Covid-19, I am proud that we are now able to further support the City’s efforts to drive down transmission rates by offering the Cathedral for the community testing initiative. Thanks to the support of Worcestershire County Council, we have been able to do this while also continuing to open for socially-distanced private prayer from 11am to 1pm, Monday to Saturday. We continue to pray for the community daily by means of our online services and this is a proactive way of putting our prayers into action.”