A message from Dr Will Maimaris, Haringey’s Director of Public Health about the importance of lateral flow testing for the parents and carers of all households with children at school and college
Covid rapid lateral flow testing A4
Letter from the Director of Public Health
Dear parents and carers,
As you may be aware, NHS Test and Trace have extended Lateral Flow Device (LFD) testing to all adults in households with school and college age children. This means that parents and other adults in households with children at school or college, who do not have symptoms, can now access regular, rapid coronavirus (COVID-19) testing. This includes childcare and support bubbles.
One in three people who have COVID-19 do not experience any symptoms and so can unknowingly pass it on to others who may not be so fortunate. Regular, rapid coronavirus (COVID-19) testing helps identify those who may be carrying the virus so that outbreaks can be contained.
Secondary school children will be undertaking initial testing at school and be sent home with a testing pack for testing at home. Schools are working very hard on fulfilling this aspect of the mass lateral testing rollout and will be in communication with you.
However, you and any other adults in the household should also get tested regularly to contain virus transmission as schools return to face-to-face teaching and we start to see the initial lifting of some of the lockdown measures in place.
Tests are fast, easy and completely free. There are different ways for you and members of your household, childcare or support bubble to get tested regularly – and we recommend that you do this twice a week. Children of primary school age (and below) without symptoms are not being asked to take a test.
You can get tested through:
- your employer if they offer testing to their staff;
- Community Testing via asymptomatic testing sites. We have 4 rapid testing sites in Haringey for people without symptoms that operate on a walk-in basis. No appointment is necessary.
- by collecting a home test kit from a Collection Point;
- by ordering a home test kit online
Full details are available on our website: www.haringey.gov.uk/COVID-testing
If you have any queries about the tests, and you live in England, please call 119 (free from mobiles and landlines). Lines are open every day from 7am to 11pm.
Testing is voluntary, but we strongly recommend it to all who are eligible. Alongside the vaccine, washing hands, wearing face coverings, and maintaining social distancing, rapid testing plays a vital role in reducing transmission rates. Getting into the habit of regular testing as part of our everyday lives will help us all to play our part and do what we can to protect each other.
It’s great to see schools opening their doors again to their communities. School is important for our children’s social and emotional wellbeing as well as for their learning. The lockdown has reduced infection rates significantly since the post-Christmas peaks we saw in January and alongside the highly successful vaccine programme that continues to roll out at pace, we are making real progress in our fight to stop the spread of Coronavirus in Haringey.
Let’s all play our part in keeping Haringey safe.
Dr Will Maimaris
Director of Public Health
