Free Covid – 19 Tests

St Dennis

13/04/2021

Everyone in Cornwall is being urged to take a Covid-19 test at home twice a week to help stop the spread of the virus.

Until now, the rapid-result lateral flow tests (LFTs) have only been offered to frontline and essential workers who can’t work from home, as well as schoolchildren and their families.

But from Friday April 9, they are being made available to every adult in the country who is over the age of 18 and not showing any symptoms of coronavirus.

The test kits are easy to use and require people to simply swab their nose and throat and then wait 20 to 30 minutes for a result, which they register with NHS Test and Trace through an app or website.

One in three people with the virus show no symptoms meaning they go about their daily lives unaware they are spreading it. These rapid tests help identify asymptomatic cases so they can self-isolate and stop the spread.

Cornwall Council have complied this list to show ways that people can access rapid testing:

Anyone who tests positive with an LFT must self-isolate immediately and arrange to have a confirmatory PCR test by visiting www.gov.uk/get-coronavirus-test or calling 119.

The more people who get into the habit of testing twice a week, the quicker we can ease our way out of lockdown.