The areas of London and the South East that are being targeted for rapid Covid testing of secondary school students and staff have been revealed.
Teachers, school staff, students and their families at certain schools in Covid hotspots in London, Essex and Kent are being urged to get tested this weekend.
Health secretary Matt Hancock said urgent action was being taken because of concerns about Covid rates among young people in these areas.
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Now the Department of Health and Social Care has revealed more details about which areas are being targeted.
Coronavirus: Rapid testing of secondary school students
In London the areas getting additional tests are:
- Barking and Dagenham
- Hackney and the City
- Havering
- Newham
- Redbridge
- Tower Hamlets
- Waltham Forest
In Essex the areas getting additional tests are:
- Southend
- Basildon
- Canvey Island
- Brentwood
- Harlow
The Department of Health and Social Care statement, published this morning, did not provide a breakdown of which areas of Kent would be targeted for tests.
Last night Mr Hancock said that a plan was being put in place for testing all secondary school-aged children in the seven worst-affected boroughs of London, in parts of Essex that border London and in parts of Kent.
Today school leaders in the North of England in areas hit hard by Covid last month have questioned why rapid testing of secondary school students was not made available to them.
In London 44,000 home test kits will be made available for school staff, including teachers, to carry out tests before returning in January.
The Department of Health and Social Care said 15 mobile testing units will be deployed in or near schools for staff, students and their families to be tested.
This will provide approximately 75,000 additional tests over and above existing test sites in the capital.
An additional 10 mobile testing units will be deployed in Essex over the weekend and two additional units will be deployed in Kent.
