Getting tested for coronavirus COVID-19 in Blackpool

Symptoms

The main symptoms of coronavirus are:

High temperature – this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)
A new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)
A loss or change to your sense of smell or taste – this means you've noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal

Most people with coronavirus have at least one of these symptoms. Use the NHS 111 online coronavirus service if you’re worried about your symptoms.

Getting a test

Anyone feeling unwell or worried they may have coronavirus can now get a test for COVID-19.

The three main symptoms of coronavirus are:

A high temperature
A new, continuous cough
A loss or change to your sense of smell or taste

However, there are other symptoms of coronavirus including a persistent headache and diarrhoea, so you should get a test if you feel in any way unwell.

When you are booking a test, if you don't have the classic symptoms, simply say you don't. A few clicks later on the website, you can then choose the option which says: "My local council or health protection team has asked me (or someone I live with) to get a test, even though I do not have symptoms".

If you have been in contact with somebody who has symptoms of coronavirus, you must self-isolate for 10 days, even if you have no symptoms yourself, and even if you have had a negative test result - as you could still be incubating the virus.

You are not eligible for a test through the national Test and Trace system for the reason of travelling to or from another country. If you return from a country that is subject to quarantine requirements and FCO foreign travel advice, you will need to self-isolate for 10 days, even if you test negative during those 10 days. Please do not waste a test that may be needed for others with symptoms.

Testing locations

You can choose to take the test:

At a test site (if one is locally available to you)
With a home test kit

There are lots of coronavirus test appointments available in Blackpool if you have any symptoms of COVID-19.

Important to note for Blackpool residents: there is a large car park at the walk-through test site on Yeadon Way in Blackpool, so you can drive there to get your test done.

Just select to get the test ‘at a walk-through test site’ when you are booking – you will then be able to drive to your test appointment at the Yeadon Way site, park your car and walk into the test centre.

This is much closer for Blackpool residents than the nearest drive-through site.

Please note: If you cannot get a test now, or the location or time are not convenient, try again in a few hours.

If no tests are available online, please do not call the helpline to get a test. No extra tests are available through the helpline.

You cannot be tested for coronavirus at your GP surgery.

Order a test online at GOV.UK

Or call 119 to get a test if you are unable to use the internet.

Authorities across Lancashire are working to increase access to testing.

Symptom-free testing

Coronavirus testing is now being offered in Blackpool to those without symptoms who need to leave their home to work.

Three community testing hubs have opened in Blackpool where workers with no symptoms can drop in to get a rapid COVID-19 test result in under 30 minutes.

Please do not call testing hub venues as they cannot help with testing sessions information.

Testing sessions at community sites

Testing locations and times from 5 February
Location	Session 1	Session 2	Session 3	Session 4
The Oracle 49 St Anne's Road Blackpool FY4 2AP	Monday 8.15am to 7.40pm	Thursday 8.15am to 7.40pm	Saturday 2.15pm to 5.40pm
Whiteholme Youth and Community Centre All Saints Road Blackpool FY5 3AL	Tuesday 12.15pm to 7.40pm	Thursday 8.15am to 7.40pm
Salvation Army Raikes Parade Blackpool FY1 4EL	Tuesday 8.15am to 5.40pm	Wednesday 8.15am to 7.40pm	Friday 10.45am to 6.15pm	Saturday 9.15am to 12.40pm
Mobile Bus Blackpool Business Park/Clifton Retail Park Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) car park Sir Frank Whittle Way Blackpool FY4 2FE	Wednesday 9.30am to 2.30pm
Mobile Bus Whitehills Business Park Canaccord Wealth Management Apollo House car park Hallam Way Whitehills Business Park FY4 5GU	Friday 9.30am to 2.30pm (From 19 February)

Type of test

Rapid ‘lateral flow tests' are used that give results within 30 minutes, without needing to send them to a laboratory.

Who is it aimed at?

People without symptoms of coronavirus who have to leave their home to work. These people have been told to start getting regularly tested at least once a week to stop the spread of coronavirus.

Booking

No, these are walk-in hubs. Lateral flow testing devices are used with results given in around 30 minutes. You just need a mobile number or email address to register when you arrive.

The test

A swab (similar to a big cotton bud) is used to take a sample from inside the nose/throat. It does not hurt, and takes seconds. The sample is added to the lateral flow testing device to detect COVID-19.

Requirement

Symptom-free testing is currently voluntary, but it will help people to make informed decisions to help keep themselves and their families safe, and help protect those most vulnerable to COVID-19.

Testing positive

Those who test positive must:

Self-isolate immediately
Tell their close contacts to self-isolate

Testing negative

A negative test result from a rapid test does not prove you are free from COVID-19.

Not all cases are picked up, as these tests are not as accurate as laboratory ones, especially when it is early in the infection.

• Do not change your behaviour - stick to national guidelines
• Wash hands regularly
• Use a face covering in public
• Keep 2 metres apart

Living outside Blackpool but working in Blackpool

Yes please do. We're advising all those who have to leave their homes to work to start getting tested at least once a week.

Frequency of tests

If you have to leave home to work during the lockdown you should start getting regularly tested at least once a week to stop the spread of the virus.

If you have symptoms

If you have symptoms, then you must not attend these drop-in sessions and should self-isolate immediately. Book a free test by calling 119, book online or through the NHS COVID-19 app.

Self isolating

If you have any of the 3 main symptoms of COVID-19 however mild, you must self-isolate for 10 days from when your symptoms started.

You should arrange to have a test to see if you have COVID-19. Do not go to a GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital.

If you are not experiencing any of the 3 main symptoms but have tested positive for COVID-19 you also must self-isolate for 10 days, starting from the day the test was taken. If you develop symptoms during this isolation period, you must restart your 10-day isolation from the day you develop symptoms.

Duty to self isolate

There is a new legal duty on all those who test positive for COVID-19 or are identified by NHS Test and Trace as a close contact, to self-isolate. Failure to comply with this new duty will be an offence carrying a fine of at least £1,000 and up to £10,000 for multiple breaches.

The new duty means that anyone notified of a positive test result and any of their notified contacts will have a legal duty to self-isolate.

Those testing positive for COVID-19 will be legally obliged to self-isolate for a period ending 10 days after the onset of symptoms or, for people who did not have symptoms when they were tested, 10 days after the date of the test. If you develop symptoms during this isolation period, you must restart your 10-day isolation from the day you develop symptoms.

Other members of the household will be legally obliged to self-isolate for a period ending 10 days after the onset of the infected person's symptoms (or, if they were asymptomatic, after the date of the test).

Non-household contacts will be obliged to self-isolate for the period notified to them by NHS Test and Trace (the period ending 10 days after their most recent exposure to the person who has tested positive).

Please read the government guidance for households with possible or confirmed coronavirus infection.

You may have to self-isolate when you arrive in England, if you are travelling from a country that is not on the travel corridor exempt list. Please check the government website for further details, including how to self-isolate when you travel to the UK.

Support for those self-isolating

You could be eligible for a support payment of £500 if you are financially impacted by needing to self-isolate.

Find out if you are eligible

Our Corona Kindness service can help if you need further support with tasks such as food shopping or getting medical supplies.

Call 0808 196 3080 or email helpneeded@blackpool.gov.uk

Getting the vaccine

Vaccines are important

The coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine is safe and effective. It gives you the best protection against coronavirus.

Who can get the COVID-19 vaccine

The NHS is currently offering the COVID-19 vaccine to people most at risk from coronavirus.

In England, the vaccine is being offered in some hospitals and pharmacies, at hundreds of local vaccination centres run by GPs and at larger vaccination centres. More centres are opening all the time.

It's being given to:

People aged 80 and over
Some people aged 70 and over
Some people who are clinically extremely vulnerable
People who live or work in care homes
Health and social care workers

You also need to be registered with a GP surgery in England. You can register with a GP if you do not have one.

The order in which people will be offered the vaccine is based on advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).

More information on getting the coronavirus vaccine

Winter Gardens vaccination hub

Vaccination centre

The Winter Gardens will be operating as a vaccination hub from Monday 25 January 2021. Access will be strictly by appointment only.

Appointments will be either by letter or a telephone call
Entrance to the vaccination centre will be on the corner of Coronation Street and Adelaide Street
Patients in wheelchairs or walking sticks will be able to use the front entrance

Parking

You are advised to park on East Topping Street. There will be a seperate area for those heading for a vaccine towards the Church Street end of the car park
A pay and display machine in that particular area of the car park will be reconfigured to give a free one-hour allowance for parking
The five-minute walk to the vaccination centre will be signposted
There will be marshalls on site to help patients park, answer any queries and sign post you to the venue
Parking attendants will also be on site to help

More information on getting vaccinated in Lancashire

Workplace testing

Evidence shows that around 1 in 3 people who test positive for COVID-19 have no symptoms at all.

These asymptomatic people can spread the virus unknowingly, in workplaces and in the community. That is why the testing of people without symptoms is vital. Identifying those individuals will save lives.

Employee testing is quick and easy

Swabbing and processing symptom-free tests can be conducted in the workplace itself.