Brent Council urges residents to make Covid testing part of their weekly routine - information here

 FROM BRENT COUNCIL

Brent residents are being encouraged to get tested twice a week as part of their regular routine as the national lockdown in England loosens further.

 

From today (April 9) everyone in England, including those without symptoms, is eligible to take a free rapid COVID test twice a week to do their bit to ensure they are not spreading COVID. 1 in 3 people with COVID show no symptoms at all so could be spreading it without knowing if they don’t test regularly.

 

Alongside the rollout of the vaccine, getting tested regularly is vital to help control the spread of the virus – including variants – as more shops and services start to open up again.

 

Dr Melanie Smith, Brent’s Director of Public Health, says:

 

Testing is the only sure way to know whether you are carrying the virus as around a third of people with COVID don’t show any signs at all so could be spreading this deadly virus to loved ones and around the community without knowing. Rapid testing does exactly what it says on the tin – providing a result in less than 40 minutes. This means positive cases can be detected quickly and infected people can slow the spread by immediately self-isolating.

 

From Friday, residents will be able to access rapid lateral flow tests (LFDs) for themselves and their families to use twice a week. Rapid testing had been limited to those most at risk and people needing to leave home for work. Now rapid testing will be offered to everyone – not just frontline NHS workers, care home staff and residents, and schoolchildren and their families.

 

Since rapid testing was introduced over 120,000 positive cases have been identified. These would not have been discovered without the widespread use of LFDs. By extending their use still further, even more cases will be detected and we can break the chains of transmission and save lives.

 

Updates will also be made to the NHS COVID-19 app in England to coincide with the offer of rapid testing for everyone. Since its launch in September, over 22 million people have downloaded the app. 

 

Over 100,000 businesses in England have registered their interest to provide rapid tests to their employees, and the offer of free testing is being expanded to companies with over ten workers where on-site testing is impossible. 

 

The expanded testing offer for people without symptoms will be delivered by:

 

·       A home ordering service, which allows people to order lateral flow tests online to be delivered to their home

·       Workplace testing programmes, on-site or at home

·       Community testing, offered by all local authorities – there are five locations in Brent

·       Collection at a local PCR test site during specific test collection time windows

·       Testing on-site at schools and colleges.

 

A new ‘Pharmacy Collect’ service is also launching which will provide an additional route to regular testing. People aged over 18 without symptoms will be able to visit a participating local pharmacy and collect a box of seven rapid tests to use twice a week at home.

 

The best route for testing can be found at NHS.UK/get-tested. If testing at home, individuals will need to register their results online, or by calling 119. After any positive LFT test, they will also need to self-isolate and order a confirmatory PCR test. 

 

 

For more information about testing go to: www.brent.gov.uk/testing

 

Symptom-free tests are available at the following locations seven days a week from 9am-6pm:

• Brent Civic Centre - Engineers Way, Wembley Park, Wembley, HA9 0FJ
• Ealing Road Library - Coronet Parade, Ealing Road, Wembley, HA0 4BA
• Harlesden Library - Craven Park Road, Harlesden, NW10 8SE
• Kingsbury Library - 522-524 Kingsbury Road, Kingsbury, NW9 9HE
• The Library at Willesden Green - 95 High Rd, Willesden, London, NW10 2SF
  

NHS Covid-19 app updates

 

To coincide with the offer of free rapid testing for everyone, there will be updates to the NHS Covid-19 app in England from 8 April:

 

·       Everyone in a group must check in – In line with new regulations, when a group enters a hospitality venue, every individual must check either by scanning the official NHS QR code poster with the NHS COVID-19 app, or by providing their contact details. Previously, only the lead member of the group needed to provide contact details to check in.

·       Venue history sharing – if an app user tests positive, they will be asked to share their venue history in a privacy-protecting way via the app. This will allow venue alerts to be generated more quickly, and improve the ability to identify where outbreaks are occurring and take steps to prevent the virus spreading.

·       Additional venue alerts – if a person has been at a venue on the same day as several other people who have since tested positive for Covid-19, they may receive an alert, advising them to book a test immediately, whether they are showing symptoms or not. This is to support finding asymptomatic cases who may have caught the virus but are not displaying symptoms.

·       New QR code posters – There will be new posters displaying QR codes for hospitality venues in England. Work has taken place with the industry to make the posters clearer and easier to use. All venues in England in scope of the regulations are legally required to display an official NHS QR code poster. 

 

This is what unity looks like: Education unions warn mass Covid tests are undeliverable by start of spring term

 Well this government is certainly good at uniting people - against them. 

Joint media release from AoC, ASCL, Church of England Education Office, NAHT, NASUWT, NEU, NGA, and SFCA

 

Friday 18 December

 

Education unions warn mass Covid tests are undeliverable by start of spring term

 

Education unions and associations have today joined together in advising secondary schools and colleges that they are not required to begin mass Covid testing from the start of the spring term.

 

The government yesterday announced that all secondary schools and colleges in England will be able to test staff and students from the first week of January.

However, organisations representing school and college leaders, teachers, and governors are concerned that the plans outlined by the government for rapid testing are not deliverable by the start of next term given that there are only two weeks to plan for this programme over the Christmas holiday period and numerous outstanding issues that must be addressed.

 

The plans require schools and colleges to recruit and train staff, and put in place processes to manage a large-scale testing programme. There are a number of unanswered questions including exactly what staff are expected to do, and what costs will be covered by the government, which have to be resolved before testing can begin. It is imperative that any testing programme is sufficiently resourced with suitably trained staff.

 

The Association of Colleges (AoC), Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), Church of England Education Office, National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), NASUWT teachers’ union, National Education Union (NEU), National Governance Association (NGA), and Sixth Form Colleges Association (SFCA), are sending joint advice to their members today.

 

The advice states: “If a school or college decides it is unable to set up such testing systems, based on the current plans, you will receive the full support of our respective organisations. Any of our members who come under unreasonable pressure are advised to contact us immediately.”

 

It goes on to state that schools and colleges stand ready to support the national effort to roll out mass testing, and that our organisations invite the government to discuss with us what support will be needed for the roll-out of lateral flow tests.

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said:

 

“It is extremely regrettable that the government has given the public the impression that a mass Covid testing programme will begin in secondary schools and colleges from the start of the spring term. 

“This is not the case. The plans that have been outlined by the government are not deliverable in that timescale and it is irresponsible of the government to have created the perception that this could be done with so little preparation, resources and notice. The government has put schools and colleges in an intolerable position, and misled parents and pupils. 

“Schools and colleges very much want staff and students to be able to access rapid Covid testing as soon as possible, but the plan has to be feasible or otherwise it is meaningless.”

Sam Henson, director of policy and information at the National Governance Association, said:

 

“Large scale testing is clearly an important priority but the lateness of this announcement and the huge degree of pressure that this places on school leaders as a result is unacceptable and irresponsible. The expectation for schools to assemble a workforce and roll this out in the next few working days is both unreasonable and unviable.”

 

David Hughes, Chief Executive, Association of Colleges, said:

 

“Colleges and schools have done everything they can to protect students and staff whilst keeping learning happening, and they will continue to do so. This is not about whether or not testing is the right thing to do – it is about doing it properly. The announcement on Thursday simply puts unfair pressure on leaders and staff who have already had to endure so much over the last nine months because having mass testing in place by 4th January is an impossible target for most. College and school leaders are being set up to fail and that’s not right. I know they will do what is achievable and they have shown throughout the pandemic that they will always deliver on urgent priorities, but sadly, this proposal is not realistic and nor is it currently backed up with the resources, guidance and support necessary to achieve it.”

Dr Patrick Roach, NASUWT General Secretary, said:

 

“We all want pupils and school staff to be as safe as possible in school but an unplanned, uncoordinated and unworkable approach to mass testing without the provision of adequate resources and additional trained personnel risks undermining, rather than enhancing Covid safety.

 

“The Government must work with schools and colleges on a sensible timescale for the roll out of testing which is backed with the necessary practical and financial support to ensure safety and support the continued fight against Covid-19.”

Dr Mary Bousted, Joint General Secretary of the National Education Union, said:

"The rising infection rates amongst secondary pupils has been alarming and mass testing has been necessary for many months. The Government’s last minute and ill thought through plans for schools and colleges to administer these tests is unacceptable and could jeopardise something that is so essential to bring down Covid rates in schools, colleges, and society. Government needs to get around the table with education unions to discuss how we salvage this situation and get a testing system that is operable and effective.”

 

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of NAHT, said:

 

“The government have handed schools a confused and chaotic mess at the 11th hour. By dropping this on schools minutes before the end of term, leaders are left with no time to implement government’s instructions. Covid testing should be administered and organised by those with the relevant expertise and experience, schools and colleges simply do not have the capacity to staff and run Covid testing sites themselves, whilst also providing education and vital pastoral support. Once again, an announcement that, if properly planned and executed could have been positive, is poised to fail.”

 

Bill Watkin, Chief Executive, Sixth Form Colleges Association, said:

 

“Schools and colleges have made herculean efforts to play their part in protecting and teaching young people throughout the last year. They should not feel rushed into a testing programme for which there has been insufficient time and opportunity to prepare.”