COVID-19 Update: Indoor testing facility to open at London Road campus
Friday, 23 October 2020
We are very pleased to announce that a COVID-19 testing site will be opening in the Great Hall at our London Road campus this weekend.
Colleagues from the University, along with partners at Public Health England and Reading and Wokingham Borough Councils, have been working hard to secure an indoor testing facility for the benefit of our students, staff and wider community.
Anyone with COVID-19 symptoms, however mild, can get a free swab test that takes less than a minute. Tests should be booked or ordered via the government website as soon as symptoms begin or by calling 119 and you can expect your result the next day.
Please do not visit the Great Hall for a test without booking a test in advance. Postal test kits also continue to be available through the government website.
Testing at the Great Hall site will begin on Saturday 24 October, with bookable appointments available each day. Testing is available for everyone, including vulnerable groups and people with disabilities.
The site will have detailed operating procedures designed by Public Health England to ensure that health and safety are the main priority. These measures include:
- Social distancing: those being tested will need to follow all COVID-19 public health measures. These include social distancing, not travelling by taxi or public transport, practising good personal hygiene and wearing a face covering throughout (including travelling to and from the testing centre).
- Designated areas: the testing areas are kept entirely separate from all other areas of the campus. Every effort has been made to reduce any disturbance to local communities and only NHS staff and those being tested will be in the designated area of the testing centre.
If you are visiting the testing centre, please enter and exit via Crown Place only. - Clear directions and signs: after booking their tests, anyone using the testing centre will receive the full address and directions, so they go directly to the testing via the campus entrance on Crown Place. Signs will clearly show those arriving for tests to how to get to the testing centre using the shortest and most direct route, and so keep movement around the area to a minimum.
- Cleaning regime: there is a strict cleaning regime for the testing site, which means that facilities are cleaned multiple times a day to ensure very high standards of hygiene. Waste is removed safely on a regular basis.
- Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): the trained NHS staff who are interacting with those being tested wear PPE, all of which will be removed before leaving and removed safely from the testing site.
Please be assured that every effort has been made to keep staff and students safe as this new service is launched. If you do have any questions please contact the Major Recovery Team (MRT) by emailing communications@reading.ac.uk.
Remember that detailed information about symptoms, testing, and support for self-isolation is available and regularly updated on our staff COVID-19 advice and guidance page.