New coronavirus testing facility opens in Gosport amid concern over Test and Trace

The facility, based in Walpole Park car part, in South Street, is the latest to have opened in the area.

It follows the closure of a former site at the Tipner lorry park, in Portsmouth, earlier this month.

Tests are now available in Gosport for those with coronavirus symptoms – a high temperature, a new, continuous cough, or a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste.

The new site is situated so as to be easily accessible without a car. Those being tested will be required to follow public health measures, including social distancing, not travelling by taxi or public transport, practising good personal hygiene and wearing a face covering throughout, including while travelling to and from the testing centre.

Anyone attending an appointment at a walk-through testing site will be provided with guidance on getting to and from the test site safely, with additional support for vulnerable groups and people with disabilities.

Health minister Lord Bethell said: ‘We continue to expand testing to make sure that everyone with symptoms can get a test, with our new walk-in sites making it even easier no matter where you live.

‘This new site forms part of our national testing network, which has the capacity to test more than a million people a week and is growing all the time.

‘If you have symptoms of coronavirus, I urge you to book a test today and follow the advice of NHS Test and Trace if you are contacted to protect others around you and stop the spread of the virus.’

Testing at the new site began today, with appointments made available each day for the foreseeable future.

The site is part of the largest network of diagnostic testing facilities created in British history, which now includes more than 500 sites available across the UK, including 78 drive-through sites, 205 walk-through sites, 258 mobile units, home testing and satellite kits and five mega laboratories.

However, the government has come under fire for its Test and Trace system, designed to find those who may have had close contact with people infected with Covid-19.

SEE ALSO: More than 300 new Covid-19 cases in Hampshire

Labour last night claimed the system had failed to trace almost 250,000 close contacts of people infected with coronavirus.

The analysis, verified by the House of Commons Library, revealed that in the past week alone, almost 80,000 meant to be traced were not reached.

Stephen Morgan, Portsmouth South MP, said: ‘The government must get a grip of the failings of the test and trace system and that means the prime minister must act now to reverse the trends we are now seeing.’

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