Normacot residents urged to test after Covid-19 street cluster

A testing station has been set up in Normacot after a concentration of cases across a number of streets

A testing station has been set up in a city borough where 18 people have tested positive for coronavirus across six streets.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council has urged residents to get tested after a spike in cases since 5 August.

It has set up a temporary testing site in Alexandra Infants School, Melville Road, in the Normacot area where the increase has been recorded.

The council said the situation was also "escalating" across the city.

"We are investigating this increase in cases and we can't tell yet whether this trend is set to continue," council leader Abi Brown said.

The council did not disclose which streets had been affected but Ms Brown said it was working with residents and had so far not been able to find a link.

She urged Normacot residents to get tested "to avoid the situation getting worse... and to ensure we don't have to go into local lockdowns".

"While we've seen a small increase in cases in Normacot, the situation is escalating across the city," Ms Brown said. "In the last week, we have seen a rise in case numbers in Stoke-on-Trent with 38 new cases across the city."

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