Coronavirus: Public urged not to go to Lincolnshire NHS staff testing stations

Testing stations have been opened at Yarborough Leisure Centre, in Lincoln, and the Princess Royal Sports Arena, in Boston, hoping to get tested.

Tony McGinty, assistant director of public health at Lincolnshire County Council, urged people to stay away from the centres.

“People should not show up to the centre, they won’t be tested and will be turned away,” he told Local Democracy Reporters.

“Staff will be invited personally and people showing up would cause congestion for staff trying to run them.”

He urged people with symptoms to follow the isolation advice and use the 111 service with any concerns, or 999 in an emergency.

More testing stations could be set up in the future.

Both centres are now open to NHS employees and are looking to test around 80 members of staff and those they live or are quarantined with per day across both sites.

The drive-thru centres will initially focus on intensive care, emergency department and ambulance staff currently isolating at home for the 14-day period because a family member has symptoms.

Staff will be invited personally to take a test, meaning it is a scheme targeted at people who are feeling symptomatic and isolating.

The exam consists of a swab test and takes around 48 hours to be completed.

Staff will get a phone call from their employer informing them of the result and whether they can return to work.

Earlier this week, ULHT Chief Executive Andrew Morgan revealed that more than 500 members of staff were away from work due to coronavirus.

Added to normal sickness levels, the pandemic had pushed the number of NHS staff absences at Lincolnshire’s hospitals to around 11% of the workforce