The UK government have now announced door-to-door coronavirus testing in parts of England over concerns over the new South Africa variant of the virus.
In a bid to stop the spread of the variant, ‘surge testing’ will be carried out by medics to 80,000 residents in parts of Surrey, London, Kent, Walsall, Southport and Hertfordshire.
The government said the surge testing scheme will begin in:
- London – W7 (Ealing), N17 (Haringey) and CR4 (Croydon)
- West Midlands – WS2 (Walsall)
- East of England – EN10 (Broxbourne)
- South East – ME15 (Maidstone) and GU21 (Guildford)
- North West – PR9 (Preston)
The launch of surge testing comes after “a small number” of people with no links to travel to South African have been infected with the new variant.
Surrey County Council told people living in the St Johns and Goldwsorth Park areas of Woking officials will post tests through their letterbox and collect them on the same day for lab analysis.
In the ME15 postcode district of Kent, police officers will be among groups visiting households to urge people to “carry out a PCR test there and then”.
The Department for Health and Social Care said of the variant: “There is currently no evidence to suggest this variant is more serious than others, or that the regulated vaccine would not protect against it.”
Health Secretary Matt Hancock added: “The best way to stop the spread of the virus – including new variants – is to stay at home and follow the restrictions in place. Until more people are vaccinated, this is the only way we will control the spread of the virus.”