Coronavirus testing centre at St Mary's Market launches

After receiving the go-ahead late on Friday evening from Government, the MAST testing pilot that was run in Liverpool will now be offered to people living and working in St Helens who do not have COVID-19 symptoms.

Following the MAST testing pilot (also known as SMART testing) in Liverpool, the other boroughs in the region (St Helens, Knowsley, Halton, Sefton, and Wirral) will see regular testing for residents without symptoms of COVID-19 from this week. 

SMART testing refers to Systematic, Meaningful, Asymptomatic, Repeated Testing, with the approach being based on the learning of the pilot in Liverpool and continue to be evaluated to inform how testing works nationally. 

St Helens Borough Council has opened its first COVID-19 Community Testing Centre, today, Monday, December 7, at St Mary’s Indoor Market in St Helens town centre, with support from the military over the weekend to set up the testing site.

Soldiers are working with local authority staff to set up additional testing sites at Chester Lane Library and Community Centre, Sutton and Grange Valley Youth Centre, Haydock, which are planned to open on Wednesday this week (December 9).

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All testing sites in the borough will operate on a 'walking in' basis, with no need to book, seven days a week, from 8.30am to 6pm Monday to Friday and 10am to 3pm Saturday and Sundays.

They are for people who do not have COVID-19 symptoms.

Residents who have symptoms; a high temperature, a new continuous cough, and a change or loss of taste or smell, should self-isolate immediately and book a test online at gov.uk/coronavirus or call 119.

Community testing is a positive step towards tackling COVID-19 as it identifies people with the virus who do not have symptoms and who could unknowingly be passing it on to others. Regular testing, ideally with around five days between tests, will help residents know if they are carrying the virus or not, and will also hopefully allow them to return to the things they love and have missed as a result of national and local restrictions.

Cllr Baines

St Helens Council leader David Baines said: “It is fantastic news that we can now offer quick, symptom-free testing to people who live and work in St Helens Borough.

“Regular symptom-free community testing helps us to identify those people who are infectious and may be unknowingly spreading the disease to others, allowing them to self-isolate and protect others.

“Testing regularly will not only help protect lives but also livelihoods as it will help release people from self-isolating earlier if they test negative and allow them to get back to their jobs and employment, keeping our economy and town centres open for business – allowing those who continue to test negative to be able to enjoy some of those normal activities we’ve missed so much, such as going to a football match, the cinema, or for a meal, or visiting elderly relatives – helping us to get back to a more normal way of life as we go into 2021.

“I urge everyone living and working in our borough to come forward, get tested and let’s get back to the things we love.”

Soldiers will be working alongside council staff, to set up the testing stations and to help train staff in how to administer the test and testing process.

Residents will take the swab test themselves with guidance from testing centre staff. Volunteers from the local community have also been called on to help, with Halton and St Helens VCA working alongside the council to recruit residents who can help support by carrying out admin and queue management duties.

Symptom-free tests (or ‘lateral flow’ tests) are point of care tests, so don’t need to be processed in a lab. Results are ready very quickly – from 30 minutes to a couple of hours. Residents will receive their tests results by text or email soon after they leave the test centre.

Sue Forster

Sue Forster, director of public health for St Helens Borough Council, added: “Effective community testing is absolutely vital to our efforts to contain the virus, protect our NHS and save lives.

“Cases of COVID-19 are continuing to fall across the borough, and I want to thank you for the sacrifices that we have all made to make this a reality. But to now help these figures to come down further, and to ensure that we continue to enjoy extra freedoms under Tier Two, I am asking everyone living and working across St Helens Borough to come forward and get tested.

“We all want to get back to a normal life as soon as possible, but until the vaccine has been fully rolled out there are three things we must all continue to do.

“So please, get tested, regularly. Self-isolate if you test positive or have symptoms. And, even if you test negative, follow the rules – hands, face, space and limit your contacts.”

In a joint statement, the region's metro mayor Steve Rotheram and the Leaders of the five Local Authorities - Halton, Knowsley, Sefton, St Helens and Wirral – said: 

“Effective testing is absolutely vital to our efforts to containing the virus, protecting our NHS and saving lives. 

“Cases of COVID-19 continue to fall across the city region because of the sacrifices we have all made and because people have come forward to get tested. 

“But, while we enjoy some extra freedoms under Tier 2, we cannot afford to be complacent for one second. 

“We all want to get back to a normal life as soon as possible, but until the vaccine has been fully rolled out there are three things we must all continue to do. 

“So please: Get tested, regularly. Self-isolate if you test positive or have symptoms. And, even if you test negative, follow the rules – hands, face, space.” 

Director of testing and mass vaccination for Cheshire & Merseyside, Terry Whalley, added: “This is a huge opportunity for the Liverpool City Region as we continue to lead the way on testing those without symptoms, which I believe had made and will make a real difference to the way we live with Covid-19 while we roll out an effective vaccine. 

“The success of repeat, targeted testing in Liverpool over the last month has shown that we can drive down the R-number and identify positive cases in people who had no idea they were carrying and potentially spreading the virus. 

“The extension of specific, meaningful testing could lead to some very real benefits for all of us as we seek to return to a more normal way of life going into 2021.

"Through all this additional carefully targeted testing we could see people who continue to test negative being more able to carry on with normal activities, such as attending a football match or visiting elderly relatives. 

“We have a real chance here to further prove that additional testing of those without symptoms can protect lives and livelihoods and I am very proud that Liverpool City Region is at the forefront of this work.” 

• For more information on when and how testing will be available and a list of frequently asked questions, please visit sthelens.gov.uk/LetsGetTested
• Anyone interested in volunteering to help support symptom-free community testing is asked to register at volunteering.haltonsthelensvca.org.uk . Full training and PPE will be provided. They will help manage queues and direct people safely and won’t be required to administer tests.