South Yorkshire Covid testing site forced to close due to flooding

The Forge Island site, which has been testing residents for the virus since July, had to close when the River Don burst its banks following heavy rainfall on Tuesday, and will remain closed for the next week.

Ben Anderson, Rotherham’s new director of public health, said the site had been testing at 25 per cent of its capacity and other testing sites in the borough can absorb the extra work from the closure.

He told a meeting of the council’s overview and scrutiny committee: “The test programme is run by the department of health and social care, and they are responding very rapidly to close the site and take away anything that might cause an additional flood risk.”

“The plan is to restart the site up for next Tuesday. The site was operating at 25 per cent capacity, with lockdown suppressing the amount of cases.

“Sites across the borough have spare capacity, so we’re not expecting any delays in people’s ability to access testing at the moment.”

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