The entire population of the COVID-19 hotspot city of Liverpool will be regularly offered a coronavirus test in a pilot scheme using the armed forces.
The city, which has been under Tier 3 restrictions for nearly three weeks and has one of the highest coronavirus rates in England at 366.4 cases per 100,000, volunteered for the scheme, which will start on Friday.
The scheme will use new, rapid turnaround tests, with 2,000 members of the military working alongside NHS staff, and everyone living or working in the city offered repeat testing – even if asymptomatic.
Residents and workers will be tested using a combination of existing swab tests, as well as 500,000 new lateral flow tests, which can rapidly turn around results within an hour without the need to be processed in a lab.
People will be able to book a test online, by walking into a test centre, or by invitation from the city council.
Tests will be carried out at new and existing test sites, using home covid PCR tests, in hospitals, care homes, schools, universities and workplaces.
This story was originally published by Sky News. You can read the original version in full here.
