Free rapid COVID-19 tests now available for everyone over 18 in Central Bedfordshire
Thursday, 15 April 2021
If you're over 18 and don’t have symptoms of coronavirus, take advantage of free rapid COVID-19 tests which are now available from community testing sites, local pharmacies or online.
Find out how to get a rapid test.
Over 11,000 tests for people without COVID-19 symptoms have already been done at our coronavirus rapid testing sites in Dunstable, Flitwick and Biggleswade while over eight hundred more have collected home tests.
If you don’t have symptoms, you can get a free rapid test (also called lateral flow) at any of our centres in Biggleswade, Dunstable and Flitwick. You can also learn how to do a high-quality test at home and collect a home test kit.
You can also use the government’s new home ordering service to order rapid tests online to be delivered to your home or collected through a new ‘Pharmacy Collect’ service where you can visit a participating local pharmacy and collect a box of 7 rapid tests to use twice a week at home.
If you've already got symptoms
If you have coronavirus symptoms, you shouldn't use this service. Instead, you need to get a full (PCR) test as soon as possible.
Symptoms are:
- high temperature
- new, continuous cough
- loss or change to sense of smell or taste
Testing centres
Councillor Tracey Stock, our Executive Member for Health & Wellbeing and Communities, welcomed the news, saying:
Our community testing centres have carried out over 11,000 tests and found 41 people who were positive for COVID-19 despite having no symptoms. This means 41 local residents are now able to take action to protect themselves, their families and everyone around them, reducing the spread of infection.
With around one in three people who have coronavirus showing no symptoms, regular rapid testing is vital for those individuals who have regular contact with people who are not part of their household or bubble.
Regular testing will help identify more people who have COVID-19 and help to reduce the spread of the virus as they will know how to self-isolate.
Our first rapid testing site for people without symptoms opened on 5 February 2021. Since then, 41 people have tested positive for COVID-19, despite having no symptoms, meaning the testing centres have helped reduce the risk of catching COVID-19.
- Saxon Pool and Leisure Centre in Biggleswade has done 3,293 tests
- Dunstable Leisure Centre, has done 3,457 tests
- Flitwick Leisure Centre, has done 4,476 tests
The centres have also given out 1,516 home testing kits, reaching people unable to attend the centres themselves.
A rapid test is for people who don't have COVID-19 symptoms, with results given in 30 minutes. If you have symptoms, you should self-isolate at home and book a standard COVID-19 test online on the NHS website or call 119.