A new walk-through COVID-19 testing site has opened at Peckham Pulse Leisure Centre car park.
The site is accessible for people who can’t drive but anyone attending is requested not to travel there by taxi or public transport and, if walking or cycling, following social distancing and wearing face masks.
Only people with symptoms – high temperature, new and continuous cough, or a loss or change of taste and smell – can book a test.
Tests can be booked by calling 119 or online at nhs.uk/coronavirus.
The site opened on Saturday, October 17, and appointments will be made available on a daily basis.
There are now 500 sites available across the UK, including 78 drive-through sites, 193 walk-through sites, 258 mobile units, home testing and satellite kits and five mega-laboratories.
Anyone testing positive for the virus in England will be contacted by NHS Test and Trace to help them trace their contacts – as well as using the Test and Trace app to send out notifications to anyone else who has been in close contact.
Those who may have been exposed to the virus will be asked to stay at home for fourteen days to prevent them from unknowingly spreading the disease. They will be advised to also book at test if they develop symptoms.
Health Minister Lord Bethell said: “We continue to expand testing to make sure that everyone with symptoms can get a test, with our new walk-in sites making it even easier no matter where you live.
“This new site forms part of our national testing network, which has the capacity to test more than a million people a week and is growing all the time.
“If you have symptoms of coronavirus, I urge you to book a test today and follow the advice of NHS Test and Trace if you are contacted to protect others around you and stop the spread of the virus.”
Baroness Dido Harding, interim executive chair of the National Institute for Health Protection, said: “Our new walk through sites offer communities better access to coronavirus testing, so everyone with symptoms can get a test.
“This new site is part of our ongoing work to expand testing across the UK to deliver 500,000 tests a day by the end of October.
“Please book a test if you have coronavirus symptoms: a new continuous cough, a high temperature and a loss or change in sense of smell or taste.
“Everybody should continue to think hands, face, space, and follow the advice of NHS Test and Trace if you are contacted – this is the only way we can return to a more normal way of life.”
So let me get this right . You have a high temperature and a cough , feel terrible and are highly contagious and Southwark want you to walk or cycle to get tested possibly for miles as this is the only testing station around . What sort of fantasy world do these people live in .