School pupils and staff in Harrogate will be able to collect rapid covid tests at the town’s testing centre from next week.
The Dragon Road site will become a collection point in the afternoon as part of a government plan to expand access to local community testing.
It comes as secondary school children will be tested using lateral flow tests twice a week from March 8.
The site will operate as a collection point for lateral flow kits from 1.30pm until 7pm.
Households with primary school, secondary school or college aged children, which includes childcare and support bubbles, will be able to use the site to collect rapid test kits.
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Primary school, secondary school and college staff will also be able to use the facility.
The site will still carry out symptomatic testing as normal in a morning until 12pm.
Dr Victoria Turner, public health consultant at North Yorkshire County Council, told a press briefing of the North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum, a partnership of emergency agencies, that it should not affect symptomatic testing.
She said:
“We have discussed in recent weeks that we have had plenty of spare capacity at local test sites, so this should not impact peoples’ ability to access symptomatic testing should they need it.”
Dr Turner added that she expects that more collection sites will be created nationally by the end of March.
Meanwhile, Harrogate District Hospital has reported another death from a patient who tested positive for covid.
According to NHS England figures, the patient died on March 2. It takes the death toll at the hospital since the start of the pandemic to 162.
