In-pharmacy testing makes rapid Covid testing quicker

Thursday, 23 September 2021 18:11

More local pharmacies in Wolverhampton are now offering free rapid coronavirus testing, to make it easy for people to get tested regularly.

In-pharmacy rapid testing is free and available to anyone over the age of 11, although children under the age of 16 should be accompanied by an adult.

Tests are supervised and take less than 30 minutes. There is no need to wait for the results, as these are automatically sent to you, and logged with the NHS.

At Ettingshall Pharmacy, one of the participating locations, Pharmacist Jagdeep Gill explained more: “You can book an appointment or just walk-in and have a test at a convenient time.

“They only take a few minutes to complete and once done you don’t have to wait for the results, they get sent to you automatically.”

From next week, two more pharmacies join a growing list of participating locations that offer this testing, increasing the total number of participating sites to eleven.

Councillor Jasbir Jaspal, the City of Wolverhampton Council’s Cabinet Member for Public Health and Wellbeing, said: “In-pharmacy testing is ideal for people on their way to work, meeting friends or family, or heading for the shops. Because one in three people who test positive for the virus do not have any symptoms, routine testing identifies cases that may otherwise have gone on to pass the virus on to others.

“That’s why we should all continue to test regularly, even if we don’t have symptoms ourselves.”

In-pharmacy testing is available without appointment at participating pharmacies, but appointments can also be booked online. For a full list of pharmacies, or to book a free rapid test, visit www.wolverhampton.gov.uk/pharmacy-testing

Rapid testing is only available to people without symptoms of Covid-19. Anyone with symptoms of the virus, such as a fever, a new and continuous cough or a change to their sense of smell of taste should immediately self-isolate and book a PCR test instead. PCR tests can be booked online at www.gov.uk/get-coronavirus-test or by calling NHS 119.

Latest figures show that there were 338.5 new cases of Covid-19 per 100,000 people in Wolverhampton over the last seven days. That means 890 people tested positive for the virus in that same time period, although the true number of new cases is likely to be higher.