Covid: Surge testing for Indian variant in Reading and Wokingham

Residents in the targeted areas will be able to book a PCR test

Surge testing will be carried out in parts of Berkshire after cases of the so-called Indian variant of coronavirus were identified.

A two-week community testing programme will target a number of postcodes in Reading and Wokingham from Monday

Public health officials in Reading said cases of the variant, now named the Delta variant by the WHO, had doubled in a week.

Anyone living or working in the areas is urged to have a test.

In Reading, latest figures up to 30 May, showed coronavirus infection rates stood at 92.7 per 100,000 people, up from 43.9 per 100,000 people the previous week.

Dominant strain

The town also has a relatively low vaccination rate, with 53% of residents having had their first jab.

Wokingham's figures had risen from 32.7 per 100,000 people to 60.2 per 100,000 people over the same time.

Anyone over the age of 12 living, working, or going to school in the targeted areas is being asked to come forward for a Covid-19 test.

Reading Borough Council said the postcodeswere RG1 3, RG1 5, RG1 6 and RG1 7.

Wokingham Borough Council said people in the Bulmershe and Whitegates, Evendons, Norreys and Wescott council wards would be tested.

The councils said anyone should have the test, even if they do not have symptoms, have been vaccinated or been taking regular Lateral Flow Tests.

Anyone tested positive for Covid-19 in the last 90 days using a PCR test should not come forward for surge testing.

Meradin Peachey, director of public health for Berkshire West, described the move as "precautionary".

"We have no way of knowing how many - if any - of the variant cases there are in the area unless these tests are carried out.

"The more completed tests we get, the more chance we have of preventing this variant spreading further."

All positive results will be sent for further analysis and genome-sequencing to determine which strain of the virus they may have.

The Delta variant of coronavirus, first identified in India, is now the dominant strain in the UK, Public Health England (PHE) has said.

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