Covid surge testing moves to Darwen

As confirmed Covid cases rise in Darwen, Council engagement teams will take surge testing to the town from Friday 11 June.

Darwen East ward is now in the top three areas of Blackburn with Darwen with high case rates of Coronavirus.

Everyone who lives, works or studies in Darwen is being encouraged to take a PCR test for Covid, whether they have symptoms or not.

As part of the current surge testing taking place in the borough, this will help to track the spread of the Delta variant of Coronavirus.

Positive results from PCR tests can be analysed in a laboratory to identify this variant of concern, which is thought to be around 30-50% more transmissible than the previous UK variant.

Council engagement teams will be in Darwen town centre on Friday, talking to residents about the town’s rising rates and encouraging them to take a PCR test.

People without symptoms can get a test from a mobile testing site which is stationed on Darwen Market Square in the centre of the town. It’s open Monday to Saturday from 10am to 4pm, until 26 June.

Nearby Ewood Park also has a mobile testing site, outside the Darwen End, which is open seven days a week from 10am to 5pm, until Sunday 27 June.

You don’t need an appointment – both of these sites are walk-up centres.

Please remember to wear a face covering when you attend for a test and maintain social distancing.

Over the weekend of 12 & 13 June, additional surge testing teams will be out in the Wensley Fold area of Blackburn.

These teams are part of the national Surge Rapid Response Team, who are supporting the Council’s own engagement teams.

In Wensley Fold, they will be knocking on doors and speaking to residents, as well as handing out PCR test kits. They will call back a few hours later to collect completed tests and make sure they are sent off for laboratory analysis.

Director of Public Health for Blackburn with Darwen, Prof Dominic Harrison, said:

We now have cases of the Delta variant of Coronavirus in all wards within Blackburn with Darwen. This means that it is circulating in our communities, our schools, our workplaces and so on.

Surge testing is used to identify asymptomatic people who are carrying the virus without knowing it. We are finding that this is quite common among people who have had their Covid vaccinations – their jabs have given them protection so they may feel a little ‘off’ or run down but not associate their symptoms with Covid, because they aren’t the classic symptoms we look out for.

Finding these asymptomatic cases and these people completing their 10 day self-isolation period can help to shut down further transmission across our borough.

This is vital to turning our rates around, getting control of the virus, preventing more people from becoming ill – and ultimately saving lives.

Please, take a PCR test as soon as you can. Anyone who needs help taking a test can speak to the medically trained staff at the mobile testing units.

People with Covid symptoms should not go to mobile testing sites. Instead they should use the testing facilities at Royal Blackburn Hospital, on the Blackburn College car park and on Railway Road car park in Darwen.

Find out more about Coronavirus testing in Blackburn with Darwen at www.blackburn.gov.uk/get-a-test.