Covid-19 home testing kits given to Hillingdon residents who look after children

By SKYE WILLIAMS

Photo by Mufid Majnun on Unsplash

Hillingdon households with people who are involved in a classroom or childcare setting have been provided with Covid-19 home testing kits.

This news comes along with a statement from Hillingdon Council. In a press release, it reminded its residents that the pandemic is not yet over, and testing is still vital.

The council statement said: "Despite more and more people in Hillingdon getting their vaccinations, everyone still has a part to play in keeping the virus under control.

"Around one in three people with coronavirus show no symptoms and are potentially spreading it without knowing."

This comes amid the recent return to schools during the third national lockdown. In an effort to keep children, young people and staff in schools, Hillingdon Council has opened a 'community collect' home-test service for residents in households with school-age children and those who work with young people.

Schoolchildren and staff will be able to get their testing kits from their institutions after taking three supervised tests. These tests give results in under 30 minutes, compared to the ones taken at centres, which can take up to a few days.

Outside of this, the kits will be accessible for parents, family household members and people in support bubbles. They can collect up to two boxes by booking for delivery online or collecting the tests from the Topping Lane PCR test site, situated near Brunel University London and at other testing sites in the borough.

These tests need to be taken twice a week to enable those who test positive to self-isolate as soon as possible to shield from those they could pass the virus on to and those who are considered vulnerable.

Cllr Ian Edwards, Leader of Hillingdon Council, regards these tests as 'simple, easy and painless'.

The Councillor added: "This will help us detect cases where someone is without symptoms and could have otherwise gone unnoticed, potentially spreading the virus and possibly causing a school or workplace to close."

The council urges its residents to get tested when needed to help slow down the spread of the virus.

On its Twitter page, in a recent post, Hillingdon Council stated that: "Everyone has their reason for getting a COVID-19 test. What’s yours?

"Whether you have symptoms or not, please help to keep Hillingdon safe by getting tested."