FLOODING concerns have prompted officials to move Carlisle’s walk-through Covid-19 test facility to a new location.

The centre in Castle Car Park, Devonshire Walk, has operated since August Cumbria County Council said a decision has been taken to move it to Cecil Street Car Park, next to Cumbria House, the authority’s headquarters.

This is a precaution due to the original location being prone to flooding.

Work to build the new testing site, using temporary modular units, will start on Tuesday and it is expected to be operational by Saturday, November 28. It will open from 8am to 8pm every day, though tests must be booked in advance.

Cumbria County Council said there will be no interruption to the city’s testing capacity, with the Castle Car Park facility remaining open until the new one is ready, and the larger, drive-through testing site at Carlisle Airport will also remain open.

The Castle Car Park site was opened to combat an increased demand for coronavirus tests in the summer, freeing up mobile testing facilities to go elsewhere, and was expected to be in Carlisle for two months at the least.

Anyone with coronavirus symptoms can get a free swab test that takes less than a minute.

Tests should be booked or ordered as soon as symptoms begin at nhs.uk/coronavirus or by calling 119 and people being tested can expect their result the next day. Home test kits can also be ordered by people who cannot get to a test site.

Those who test positive will be contacted by NHS Test and Trace to help them track their contacts, who will in turn be advised to isolate for 14 days to prevent them from unknowingly spreading the virus and to book a test if they develop symptoms.

For more information visit northcumbriaccg.nhs.uk/covidtesting.