Covid-19 testing offer for all businesses great and small

New Government announcements will make it easier for businesses in Wolverhampton to test employees who cannot work from home.

With around one in three people with coronavirus not showing any symptoms, it is important that employers whose staff cannot work from home carry out regular staff testing, in order to prevent the spread of the virus.

Larger businesses, those with over 50 employees, may be eligible to receive support from Department of Health and Social Care to deliver workplace testing for employees.

This means routine asymptomatic testing can be carried out by businesses to identify cases and reduce the risk of outbreaks within their workforce. Larger businesses in Wolverhampton are encouraged to register their interest in delivering workplace testing by signing up at www.gov.uk/get-workplace-coronavirus-tests.

Support is also available for smaller businesses that employ fewer than 50 staff too, with six community-based rapid test sites across the city offering routine testing for people without symptoms who cannot work from home at this time. More information is available at www.wolverhampton.gov.uk/coronavirus-testing; please go to the Asymptomatic section.

Councillor Jasbir Jaspal, the City of Wolverhampton Council’s Cabinet Member for Public Health and Wellbeing, said: “We want to stress the importance of routine testing to all businesses in Wolverhampton.

“It means that asymptomatic cases can be identified, stopping the onward transmission of the virus and reducing the risk of an outbreak. Not only does testing ensure businesses can stay open and productive, it is a vital tool in stopping the spread of Covid-19 and keeping employees, customers, contractors and the wider community safe.

“With the new testing offer for larger businesses announced by Government, and the extensive network of rapid testing facilities already available in Wolverhampton, I would appeal to employers large and small, whose staff can’t work from home, to protect their workforce and the wider community by enabling staff to be tested regularly.”

Latest figures show there were 302.4 new cases of Covid-19 per 100,000 people in Wolverhampton over the seven days to 6 February. That means 795 people in the city tested positive for the virus in that seven day period – though the true number of new cases will likely be considerably higher.

The latest information and guidance around coronavirus is available at www.gov.uk/coronavirus and on the council’s own coronavirus pages at www.wolverhampton.gov.uk/coronavirus. Information about the vaccine can be found at www.wolverhampton.gov.uk/covidvaccine. Further details of the lockdown restrictions currently in place, and the answers to frequently asked questions, are available at www.wolverhampton.gov.uk/covidalert.