Plans have been unveiled by Hampshire County Council to open community testing sites from next week. 

Subject to Government approval, the Covid facilities will begin testing eligible workers from Monday (February 22) even if they are not displaying any Covid symptoms.

The appointment-only scheme will run for six weeks and is aimed at Hampshire residents who travel regularly outside their home for work and who are not covered by an existing workplace testing scheme.

The government is currently considering a bid for the roll-out of a six-week mass testing programme across Hampshire.

The county council has selected 11 sites across Hampshire which, if approved by the government, will become testing facilities. 

These will be: 

  • South Ham Library in Basingstoke
  • Alton Sports Centre 
  • The Point in Eastleigh
  • Fareham College
  • Thorngate Hall Community Centre in Gosport
  • Hart District Council offices
  • Havant Library
  • Totton Health and Leisure Centre
  • Picket Twenty Sports Ground in Andover
  • Winchester Discovery Centre
  • Farnborough Leisure Centre

The appointment-only scheme will be aimed at residents who have to leave home for work and who are not covered by existing workplace testing schemes.

It would include those who work in supermarkets, childminders, transport and construction workers as well as volunteers and primary school teachers.

They would all have access to lateral flow tests.

The move aims to identify asymptomatic people in a bid to stop the spread of coronavirus.

According to Hampshire County Council, tests will have to be booked online 24 hours in advance.

Residents will be invited to get tested every three to five days throughout the six-week programme.

Those who test positive will be asked to self-isolate.

The list was revealed during a meeting of the Local Outbreak Engagement Board held this morning.

Simon Bryant, the director of public health for Hampshire, said the move will help break the chain of infection.

He said: "We are really excited that the programme is there. We are waiting for that approval. We know that a third of the population would have coronavirus without knowing it. That really would help us understand that asymptomatic population."

As previously reported, a mass testing programme might also be rolled out across Southampton.

Yesterday Southampton City Council said a bid has now been submitted to the government.

A list of the proposed testing sites in the city is yet to be published.