Devon mobile covid-testing centres open

Twice weekly at Exmouth, Axminster and Honiton

The first of two brand new state-of-art mobile testing centres goes on the road this week, with its first stop at Exmouth's Foxholes car park on Saturday (27 February).

It follows a successful trial of one of the new mobile test centres at Middlemoor last Friday when more than 140 staff were tested for covid-19.

Devon County Council has bought the two mobile centres which offer rapid testing, with results within the hour.

Each van will visit the largest communities in the two areas of Devon that currently do not have fixed testing facilities and have the highest prevalence of covid-19; East Devon and West Devon.

They will each be stationed for two days each week for the foreseeable future at a central location in three of largest communities in the areas they are covering.

The East Devon van will be stationed at Exmouth’s Foxholes Carpark, near the lifeboat station on Saturdays and Tuesdays, at Axminster’s West Street Short Stay car park, on West Street, on Sundays and Wednesdays and in Honiton's Blackdown House car park, Mondays and Thursdays. 

Starting on Thursday 4 March at Tavistock’s Riverside car park, and again on Mondays and Thursdays thereafter, the West Devon van will also stop at Okehampton’s Mill Road car park on Tuesdays and Fridays and at Ivybridge’s Leonards Road Car Park on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Working alongside the county council's fixed sites in Exeter and Barnstaple – with sites at Tiverton and Newton Abbot coming soon – the mobile testing centres will help ensure that anybody who may come into contact with the public or who leaves their home to work or volunteer can get tested quickly and easily.

This includes carers, the emergency services, taxi drivers, volunteers who are helping those shielding or operators of public transport such as taxis or buses.

in addition to the mobile service, Devon's third community testing centre, also offering rapid coronavirus tests that provide results within the hour,  opens in Tiverton on Saturday and is now taking bookings.

It's in the car park of Tiverton's Exe Valley Leisure Centre in Bolham Road, Tiverton, Mid Devon, and will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., seven days a week with extended hours 7 a.m to 7 p.m. Mondays and Thursdays. It will provide lateral flow tests for anyone who leaves the house to work or volunteer, and who comes into contact with others.

The purpose of community testing is to identify those who do not have symptoms but may be unwittingly carrying the virus. Around one in three people who have covid-19 do not show any symptoms and may unintentionally be spreading the infection.

Regular rapid testing will help identify those non-symptomatic carriers of the virus. The tests are quick, easy to book and results are back within an hour via text or email.

If you are in regular contact with others you are advised to take these quick tests twice a week to prevent the potential spread of the virus. If you test positive, you must self-isolate immediately to prevent transmitting the virus to others.

Steve Brown, Director of Public Health Devon, said: “These two new mobile test centres are a vital tool in helping us ensure that those who live in more remote locations and cannot easily get to our fixed facilities, have access to quick, regular and painless testing when they need it.

“If you do test positive you must self-isolate at home. But please remember, even if you test negative you must still continue to follow national guidance around social distancing, wearing a face covering, and washing your hands properly and regularly. If everyone continues to follow these simple steps, we will prevent the transmission of the virus.”

To book a test at any of the testing centres go to: devon.cc/testing