Covid-19 Testing in Surrey

As you will be aware, there has been a significant focus on COVID-19 swab testing in line with national guidance. This has been developing and progressing swiftly at a local level and in response to the guidance and the requirement to expand the testing capability quickly, a core group of system partners from Health and Care Partners has been set up. This group will co-ordinate the delivery of coronavirus testing to all eligible people across Surrey.


CURRENT STATUS

The team is working hard to review and target priority areas first, with a view on using all the options available to build resource to meet the demand. The council is aware that this approach needs to be urgently stepped up and will be updating you as we continue to develop plans for achieving this target.

Who is eligible for a test?

Essential workers living or working in Surrey, who are self-isolating either because they have symptoms or someone in their household has symptoms, are eligible to register with Surrey’s testing hub.

Essential workers are those outlined in the Government’s list of essential workers prioritised for testing. We continue to expand our testing capacity to include new groups as part of the Government’s phased approach.

These new groups eligible for testing are:

  • anyone over 65 with symptoms
  • anyone with symptoms whose work cannot be done from home (for example, construction workers, shop workers, emergency plumbers and delivery drivers)
  • anyone who has symptoms of coronavirus and lives with any of those identified above

Anyone who falls into one of the new groups eligible for testing should use the self-referral portal for now.

We are building up the testing capacity to ensure that all care home residents and staff with symptoms are being tested. This will be rolled out shortly to include all care home residents and staff, regardless of whether they have symptoms or not.

NEXT STEPS

The safety of residents and patients is our priority and we are working at pace to ensure we can meet the local need. We will update on progress. In the meantime if you have any specific comments or queries, please do email – surreycovidtesting@surreycc.gov.uk