A walk-through Coronavirus testing facility to open on Museum Avenue

From today, NHS Wales will be opening a walk-through Covid-19 testing facility on Museum Avenue, Cardiff.

According to Cardiff Council, it will be open seven days a week from 8am to 8pm and will provide easy access to tests for local residents, including students. This testing facility is in addition to the drive-in centre at Cardiff City Stadium and the student-only testing facility at the Talybont Halls of Residence.

Testing at this site will only be available to those showing symptoms such as a high temperature, persistent cough and loss of taste and/or smell.

The executive director for Cardiff and the Vale’s Public Health, Fiona Kinghorn has said that “it is vitally important that anyone who is showing symptoms of coronavirus book themselves a test” and continued that more testing like this “is how we can stop the spread of the virus”.

She says that Cardiff and the Vale “have one of the most effective Test, Trace, Protect programmes in the country” and “this new facility will further bolster our local capacity to stop the spread of the virus”.

This testing centre will be one of a number of centres opening throughout Wales’ university towns and cities as a way to increase testing capacity, Public Health Wales has said.

Cardiff University’s Pro-Vice Chancellor, Claire Morgan, emailed students with further information about testing and thanked those that have followed guidelines. She also reiterated to not use Museum Avenue if you are not showing symptoms but to instead use the university’s own Screening Service. Information about this can be found on the Cardiff University Student Intranet.

The news of the new testing centre comes after The Cardiff Tab reported that the number of Cardiff University students in isolation has quadrupled in the past week.

To book a test at the Museum Avenue facility, call 119, or book online at gov.wales/coronavirus.

If you would like to book a test, you’ll need to provide an email address and phone number so you can receive a secure code to confirm your booking which must be shown when you go to your appointment.

The council have not yet confirmed where the testing centre will be on Museum Avenue but it will open on 17th October.

Feature image via Google maps

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