Tag: coronavirus

A pop-up drive-through coronavirus testing site will be in place in Ilkeston town centre this week from Friday 14 August to Monday 17 August 2020.

It follows an appeal by Dean Wallace, Director of Public Health for Derbyshire, for anyone who lives or socialises in Ilkeston and has coronavirus symptoms to get tested after four people who visited some of the town’s pubs on Friday 31 July and Saturday 1 August tested positive for the virus.

The drive-through testing site will be at Erewash Borough Council’s car park on Pimlico (postcode DE7 8AA). There will be no parking available in the car park while the testing station is in place.

Anyone with coronavirus symptoms, no matter how mild, should book a coronavirus test or call 119.

Mr. Wallace said: 

“This is an opportunity for people who live and socialise in and around Ilkeston to act quickly and book a test either tomorrow, Saturday, Sunday or Monday.

“It’s so important that anyone showing coronavirus symptoms, even if they’re mild, does the right thing and gets tested to help stop the spread of the virus.”

An appeal has gone out to people who live and socialise in Ilkeston to get tested if they have coronavirus symptoms – even if they are mild.

It follows confirmation that 4 people who visited some of the town’s pubs on either Friday 31 July or Saturday 1 August tested positive for the virus.

Each visited at least 1 of 3 pubs centred around the town’s Market Place – The Market Inn, The Observatory (Wetherspoons) and The Harrow – but the longest period was spent in The Market Inn on the Saturday evening.

Steps had been taken by all 3 venues to restrict the number of customers in the building at any one time, collect customer contact details and carry out additional cleaning.

But when Public Health England staff began to look at the contact details for customers who visited The Market Inn, it became clear that despite the best efforts of the landlord, a significant number of customers had left incomplete or illegible details making contact tracing almost impossible.

Dean Wallace, Director of Public Health for Derbyshire, said:

“It’s vital that anyone showing symptoms of coronavirus does the right thing and acts now to help stop the spread – particularly if they were in either The Market Inn, The Observatory or The Harrow in Ilkeston at any point on Friday 31 July or Saturday 1 August.

“Even if your symptoms are mild you should start to self-isolate immediately and book a test online at gov.uk or by calling 119.

“You should only stop isolating when you get your test result but only if that result is negative.

“This incident just goes to show the importance of social distancing when you’re out and about as keeping 2 metres away from anyone outside your household really reduces the risk of the virus spreading.

“It also shows it’s essential that anyone visiting pubs, cafes, restaurants and other outlets gives accurate contact details so that they can be traced if anyone on the premises at the time they were present tests positive for the virus.

“We all need to play our part if we are to beat this pandemic and continue on the road to returning to normal life.”