Hucknall households with school-age children urged to get tested twice a week

Rapid, regular testing is designed to minimise the spread of Covid-19 and support the successful return of more learners to face-to-face education and childcare settings.

As such, Nottinghamshire County Council has introduced free twice-weekly testing to all households with school age children, supporting the roadmap set out by the Prime Minister last month.

Jonathan Gribbin, director of public health at the council said: “Getting tested regularly, twice a week, will help us to identify cases early and break the chain of transmission.

"Each positive case identified can help prevent additional people from becoming infected over time.

“Regular testing will help to find cases that would otherwise have gone undetected.

"Testing, alongside staying at home, following the ‘hands, face, space’ rules, getting a test if you have symptoms and self-isolating if your test is positive all remain critical to keep reducing the rate of infection and protect each other.

“I would strongly encourage everyone to take advantage of the testing facilities that are now widely available across the county.”

Testing in education settings is now well established, with 600,000 tests done at universities since last year and more than three million rapid Covid-19 tests conducted in schools and colleges in England since January 4, including tests for those students who have already returned and regular testing for all staff.

Rapid, regular testing for new groups is one of a range of new measures designed to minimise the spread of Covid-19 and support the successful return of more learners to face-to-face education and childcare settings.

Getting a rapid test is quick and convenient.The expanded testing offer for people without symptoms will be delivered through testing in-person through workplace testing, local community testing sites, collection of home test kits at a local test site during specific time windows and a new home ordering service, which will allow people to order lateral flow tests online to be delivered to their home.