COVID-19: Testing case studies

Hertfordshire County Council has successfully targeted a number of the marginalised groups included on the government’s at-risk list. Outreach work with the local traveller community was particularly successful with the public health team working with key influencers in the community to engage people through social media.

Liverpool City Council has partnered with its two Premier League football clubs to help engage local people in rapid testing. Testing sites have been stationed at the grounds of Liverpool and Everton, offering tests to supporters on match days.

At more than 5,000sq kilometres, Norfolk is one of the largest counties in England. To cover such a big area, the county council has set up a network of mobile testing teams rather than rely on static sites.
It has allowed the teams to target testing at the neighbourhoods with the most need as well as support local businesses and big events.

More than 100 locations, including parks, supermarkets and faith settings, have been visited – with thousands of test kits handed out to the most hard-to-reach communities.

The public has got used to using and ordering rapid tests themselves. Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council has focused its efforts on targeting its support towards those most in need. Key to this has been its mobile testing unit.

The aim of the community centred programme is to increase the take-up of COVID testing and vaccine offer across Bradford in areas with low acceptance rates.

Walsall council used mobile testing and adapted their approach to reach different groups.

Manchester City Council introduced mobile testing units in five locations across the two areas and an asymptomatic rapid testing site at Moss Side Leisure Centre was converted into a PCR testing site.

Surge testing started in parts of Bristol and South Gloucestershire in February after 11 cases of the UK variant with E484K mutation were identified as part of routine sampling.

Hertfordshire was part of the first wave of eight council who were asked to carry out surge testing from February. One case of the South African variant that could not be linked back to travel had been identified.

Ealing Council was among the first wave of councils asked to do surge testing after a case of the South African variant that could not be directly linked to travel was identified.

The Government announced that surge testing was to take place in Norfolk on Tuesday 16 February.  The testing started the following day focussing on the market towns of Diss and Roydon, which are home to around 10,000 people. 

Wolverhampton opened its first rapid testing centre in November and now has a network of seven across the city, using a hub and spoke approach.

Set up two ‘rapid’ community testing sites in Boston to help reduce the spread of Covid-19 in residents who are asymptomatic.

Local testing and stopping the spread of the virus through communities is key to protecting the public’s safety and wellbeing. Community testing in Waltham Forest offers rapid, lateral flow tests, allowing people who have no symptoms to know if they are infected.

Gloucestershire County Council set up a rapid testing centre at the Royal Agricultural University in Cirencester in early December, before launching one in the community.

We are incredibly proud of the rapid test centres. Their success is down to the participation of our community, who value the service highly, and the brilliant staff. 

The London borough of Hackney and City of London Corporation launched a rapid testing centre in December alongside other north east London boroughs.

North Somerset council started offering rapid testing at the area’s main college – Weston College in early December.

Calderdale started piloting the use of lateral flow tests in education settings at the start of December. 

Hertfordshire created a mobile rapid testing service by converting two buses into lateral flow testing units.

Kirklees was part of the early wave of areas to put itself forward for community testing.

Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, working with South Tees public health team, set up a rapid testing centre at a community hub to engage people from a local neighbourhood.

Wirral’s Community Testing case study provides an overview of the significant local achievement to mobilise four Community Testing sites within a week, helping to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 within the Borough.