New Covid-19 testing site in Allerdale, takeaway customers urged to get tested and coronavirus hospital admissions up in Cumbria

New testing site for Workington

A walk-through coronavirus testing facility is to open on the overflow car park on Griffin Street, between Allerdale House and Workington Leisure Centre.

Testing at the new site is expected to begin on Wednesday 25 November, with appointments available every day between 8am – 8pm. Testing is available for everyone, with additional support for vulnerable groups and people with disabilities.

The testing site is part of the Government’s UK-wide drive to improve the accessibility of coronavirus testing for communities.

Anyone with coronavirus symptoms, however mild, can get a free swab test that takes less than a minute. Tests should be booked or ordered as soon as symptoms begin at https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/ or by calling 119 and people being tested can expect their result the next day. Home test kits can also be ordered by people who cannot get to a test site.

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Takeaway customers urged to get a test

Anyone who may have visited Wigton’s Shuhag Restaurant between Monday 9th November and Tuesday 18th November is being urged by Cumbria County Council’s Public Health team to get a test, even if they do not have symptoms of coronavirus.

Tests should be booked as soon as possible at nhs.uk/coronavirus or by calling 119. Home test kits can also be ordered by people who cannot get to a test site.

The restaurant was issued with a fixed penalty notice for breaching covid regulations on Friday, however, after a follow-up visit by public health officials as well as Cumbria Police on Tuesday, the restaurant has been ordered to temporarily close.

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Cumbria Covid hospital admissions increase

Across Cumbria data is beginning to indicate that in most parts of the county the infection rate is beginning to stabilise, with all areas now below the England average.

All Cumbrian districts now have infection rates of between 188 and 224 per 100,000 population. The England average is 274 per 100,000 population.

The number of people in hospital as a result of Covid-19 also continued to increase, with 93 people in north Cumbria and 161 in the Morecambe Bay NHS Trust areas (as of 17 November), up from 64 and 158 respectively last week. However, there are early indications that the number of new hospital admissions each day is dropping in the south of the county.

A further 25 people have died in the last seven days.

In the week ending November 13, there were:

• 1,057 new cases in Cumbria (+56 increase, +6%, from 1,001 cases in previous week);
• 181 new cases in Allerdale, up from 174 the previous week.

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Business support grants now available

The Government is providing funding for two national grant schemes to support businesses through the national restrictions that will run between 5 November and 2 December. The first of these grants - Local Restrictions Support Grant (closed businesses) - is now available for businesses in Allerdale to apply for. You should do this via our website (link below).

Everything you will need in order to apply for this grant is outlined on the form provided.

Grants webpage