Mass Covid-19 testing could be coming to Sheffield – with everyone in Liverpool offered a test

Until now, only people who have Covid-19 symptoms or have been asked to get tested because they may have been exposed to the virus has been advised to book a test.

But the Government has announced plans for city-wide testing in Liverpool, meaning that from Friday anyone living or working in the city can get tested, regardless of whether they have any symptoms.

Latest coronavirus rate for each part of Sheffield and South Yorkshire with 2 areas above 500

Tests will be carried out at new and existing sites across the city, including in hospitals, care homes, schools, universities and workplaces, as well as through home kits, during the pilot project.

People will be able to book a test online, walk in or accept an invitation from the local authority, and the results will be sent by NHS Test and Trace via text and email.

Housing and communities secretary Robert Jenrick told BBC Breakfast there would be sufficient testing capacity to ensure people can get tested on a ‘regular basis’.

He said: “This will mean that we’ll be able to get on top of the virus faster, understand where there are positive cases and ask those people to self-isolate, to properly contact trace everyone they’ve been in contact with and get a much better picture of what’s happening with the virus, where it is within the city.”

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Liverpool, which was the first area to be placed under Tier 3 lockdown due to the spread of coronavirus last month, will become the first city in England to get mass testing.

But ministers hope to roll out the system to other cities and towns if it proves successful.

South Yorkshire was the fourth region where Tier 3 restrictions were imposed, following Liverpool, Lancashire and Greater Manchester, meaning it could well be one of the first in line to get mass testing.

Liverpool’s Covid-19 infection rate has fallen since it went into the strictest lockdown level on October 14, two weeks after household mixing was banned there.

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The coronavirus infection rate has been falling slowly in Sheffield too, with 402.3 new cases per 100,000 people recorded during the latest week, compared with 472.4 the previous week.

There are testing centres in Upperthorpe, Sharrow, Darnall, Burngreave and a mobile unit currently based in the city centre, along with a drive-through regional testing centre at Meadowhall.

Sheffield’s director of public health, Greg Fell, said: “Just doing testing on its own won’t stop the pandemic. Making it easier for people who have symptoms to get a test by making more tests available with quicker results is a good thing.

"Our aim is to encourage more people to come forward for a test if they have symptoms and get the results back quickly so that we can rapidly contact people who may be infected. Those asked to self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace who are on low incomes will be eligible for self-isolation payments.

"We will be watching the mass testing approach with interest and also be considering how best to introduce rapid result tests that don’t need a swab.”