A MOBILE coronavirus testing unit will be available at Eccleston Park Golf Course on Friday (September 18) for appointments.

The facility is open from 10.30am to 3.30pm to people by car and on foot and is strictly by appointment only. The facility has been brought into the area as part of the response to the rise in cases seen in the area recently.

Public Health England's latest daily figures showed that another 61 people confirmed as testing positive for COVID-19 by 9am on Wednesday.

Cases have risen over recent days at a rapid pace and between September 6 and 12, there had been 201 confirmed cases of COVID-19, making the rolling seven-day infection rate for St Helens 111.6 per 100,000 population for those dates.

Only people with these symptoms - continuous cough, high temperature or a loss of or change in their normal sense of smell or taste – should book a test.

The mobile testing unit will operate by appointment only; anyone who attempts to turn up at the testing facility without an appointment will be turned away.

READ > Latest coronavirus figures for St Helens

Cllr Anthony Burns, cabinet member for public health, leisure, libraries, arts and heritage at St Helens Borough Council, said: “This mobile testing unit is a good example of how partners across health and care are working together locally to respond to COVID-19. By increasing testing locally, we hope to identify those most at risk from coronavirus and take the next steps to defeating the virus.”

Sue Forster, director of public health in St Helens, added: "We know that this situation is a difficult time for people. Through testing we can understand more about the scale of this situation and how the virus is behaving, which will help us to bring normal life back again.

"Mobile testing sites help us to prioritise, by adding additional capacity for a short time where it will have the most benefit.”

St Helens Star:

People can apply for a test online at self-referral.test-for-coronavirus.service.gov.uk/antigen/name or by calling NHS 119 and bookings should be open from 6pm this evening (Thursday) for tomorrow morning.

A time slot and the location of the mobile unit will be provided upon booking. Instructions on how to take the test and how and when people they will receive their results will be provided when taking the test. People without a booking will be turned away - without exception.

Alternatively there is also testing available at Haydock Park Racecourse which is also available to book through the same channels.