New coronavirus testing site in Oldham Town centre

Photo of the testing site being constructed on Friday

Oldham has a new facility in the fight against coronavirus and is piloting one of the North West’s first ’pop up’ community testing sites.

The site, at the Southgate Street Oldham Library car park next to Oldham Library, becomes fully operational today (Monday 29th June) and offers ‘walk-through’ testing, so you don’t have to have a vehicle to access the site. 

Anyone who suspects they have coronavirus can go to the NHS booking website or call NHS 119 to book an appointment at the site which operates seven days a week.

People will need to show a confirmation email (printed or on a mobile device) as well as ID. A face covering must be worn at all times by those attending the facility.

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)
• 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)
• 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.

Councillor Zahid Chauhan, Oldham Cabinet member for health and social care said: “This site is accessible to town centre users and many residential areas in Oldham and is open to test all suspected cases of coronavirus, on foot.

“If you, your family members, or anyone you know is experiencing coronavirus symptoms such as a high temperature, persistent cough or loss of smell, they can go to the national website to book a slot as soon as possible to get confirmation. If positive, you will be provided with the appropriate advice to limit its spread.”

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