Bury College has opened a Covid-19 asymptomatic testing centre to ensure staff on-site can support vulnerable students and students of critical workers to receive essential help with their studies.

The new asymptomatic testing centre is an effective way to test both staff and students and allows the College to remain open and operate in a Covid-safe environment. The testing is currently available for those staff members who are required to be on the Bury College campus to support vulnerable students and students of critical workers. Testing is also available for vulnerable students who are attending College and students who will be attending College to sit exams.

Staff and students have been asked to give their consent to be tested and the centre has been set-up to adhere to strict guidelines to ensure that testing is carried out safely and efficiently. Prior to the testing centre opening, members of the Bury NHS Clinical Commissioning Group attended for a dry run and were impressed with the effectiveness of the centre.

Alison Wood, Bury College Director of Planning and Information Services said, “Since the testing centre opened earlier this month, we have received excellent feedback from staff who have said they’ve felt comfortable with the process. The College has recruited new staff to help run the testing centre which have included test processors. The lateral flow devices that have been provided to the College gives us the opportunity to test staff twice a week and will go a long way in helping us to identify staff who are carrying the virus without displaying symptoms and ultimately reducing the risk of transmission.”