Your questions answered
Will the mobile testing unit visit other parts of the county where access to private transport might be lower than in other areas for example Forest of Dean?
England’s testing strategy is set out by the Government. You can find more information about it here. The mobile testing units (MTUs) are part of the government’s 'pillar 2' of the testing strategy, which is aimed at providing mass-swab testing for critical key workers in the NHS, social care and other sectors, or members of their households with symptoms (see here). More recently, this was extended to anyone who cannot work from home, and also over 65s.
The mobile testing units act under the auspices of the fixed regional testing sites (nearest to Gloucestershire are currently Worcester rugby club and Bristol airport). There are nine units that cover the South West. The decision on where to site these units is made by a group of people representing each of the Local Resilience Forums across the South West; for Gloucestershire this is the same footprint as the county council.
The factors that are taken into account are geographical (i.e. ensuring most of the SW has a drive time of less than 45 minutes where possible), as well as need/demand. However, as the tests need to be completed ideally within the first three days of symptom onset. This makes planning the locations of the mobile units challenging as it is difficult to predict on any one day where the highest need for tests will be. Therefore, the South West group also uses local knowledge of where there are higher rates of spread of coronavirus; for Gloucestershire we know that rates of infection have been higher in Gloucester and Cheltenham than our other districts.
All this said, we acknowledge that there are local communities that remain underserved by the current model. Therefore we are looking at how we can support our communities that are further away from the mobile unit, by exploring whether we can have a satellite centre, or transport kits to areas that are further away.
We are also continuing to look to establish a permanent regional testing site in Gloucestershire; if we do so, that would then enable us to make the case to move the mobile unit to other sites; we have already scoped fifteen other locations across the whole county. We also agree that there needs to be more home testing kits available and that they should be prioritised to those who cannot travel, but this aspect of the testing strategy is managed by Department of Health and Social Care, rather than being a matter for local decision. We continue to escalate such issues to the relevant government teams for consideration and action.
What is the availability of Household Recycling Centres in Gloucestershire?
- Hempsted (Gloucester) and Wingmoor Farm (Stoke Orchard) are open – all site visitors must book in advance.
- From Monday 18 May Fosse Cross (Cirencester) will be open - all site visitors must book in advance.
- Plans for the safe reopening of Pyke Quarry (Horsley, Stroud) and Oak Quarry (Coleford) are being developed.
- Cheltenham Borough Council’s Swindon Road site is also open, please use the following link to view restrictions and opening hours for this site: https://www.cheltenham.gov.uk/covid19-waste-disposal-advice
Further information on Gloucestershire County Council’s recycling centres is available here: https://www.gloucestershirerecycles.com/household-recycling-centres-hrcs/
*The above data reflects nationally published data available here.
**This section contains information on deaths of patients who have died in hospitals in Gloucestershire and had tested positive for Covid-19 at time of death or where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate. All deaths are recorded against the date of death rather than the date the deaths were announced. It is based on national NHS data published here.
The data in this briefing is updated at 9am each day based on the figures released at 2pm the previous day.
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