Island testing facility for key workers on way

Key workers on the Isle of Wight will soon be tested for coronavirus here, rather than have to travel to the mainland. It is hoped the facility will be up and running within the next few days. 

Councillor Dave Stewart, leader of the Isle of Wight Council, said: “We are working together with our key partners, the NHS and the Local Resilience Forum, to provide the opportunity to bring forward key-worker testing facilities on the Isle of Wight so that there will not be a need to travel to the mainland to access testing. The final details of this are being worked on, but we expect these to be available within the week.

“It is vital that our key workers are supported so that they can continue the truly remarkable work they’ve been undertaking over the past month.

“I’m sure that this progress around testing facilities on the Island will bring a huge amount of reassurance to our residents and our entire key-worker workforce across a vast array of settings, who are dedicated to caring for and supporting the most vulnerable members of our Island community.”

Isle of Wight MP, Bob Seely said: “With regard to Covid-19 testing facilities on the Isle of Wight, I have been in discussions with the IW Council about this as we want to avoid Islanders needing to travel to the mainland for testing. As an Island, we have unique circumstances when it comes to testing. I have raised this with the Local Government Minister and Public Health Minister and I hope for news on this shortly”.