People called on to take Covid-19 tests before meeting others in run-up to Christmas
People have been called on to take a Covid-19 test before meeting others in crowded places during the run-up to Christmas amid the Omicron variant.
Health chiefs have made the plea for people to do their bit in the virus fight with more people expected to meet with friends or family over the period.
It comes despite lateral flow home test kits becoming unavailable online amid high demand – with hopes the issue will be resolved by the end of the week.
Meanwhile, people have been strongly urged by health bosses to either attend a walk-in centre for a test or visit a pharmacy near them to collect the tests.
Councillor Jasbir Jaspal, Wolverhampton Council's cabinet member for public health and wellbeing, said: "About one in three people with Covid-19 do not have symptoms but can still infect others.
"Rapid tests help to check if someone has Covid-19, and if they test positive and self-isolate, it helps stop the virus spreading.
"Remember that, even if you're vaccinated, you could still catch the virus or pass it on. Doing rapid tests helps to protect yourself and others."
Figures show there were 393 new cases of Covid-19 per 100,000 people in Wolverhampton over the last seven days. That means 1,034 people tested positive for the virus in that same period – though the true number of cases will likely be higher.
Supervised rapid tests are available at the walk-in test facilities at the Civic Centre (Mondays and Thursdays, 8am-6pm and Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays 8am-5pm), the Jamia Masjid Bilal, Newhampton Road (10am-7pm, daily) and at participating pharmacies across the city.
For more details of rapid testing, please visit wolverhampton.gov.uk/get-tested
