RESIDENTS who are still going out to work will be targeted first when the council rolls out its new community testing scheme.
The coronavirus prevention initiative is still being drawn-up by authority chiefs but now more details have been revealed about how the programme will work.
Community testing will test people in the borough who do not have coronavirus symptoms (known as asymptomatic) to see if they are carrying an infectious level of covid-19.
READ MORE: Coronavirus community testing set to be rolled out in Bracknell Forest
If this is the case, it can be transmitted to others.
By identifying whether someone is carrying coronavirus at an infectious level, residents can then self-isolate and prevent the transmission of the disease.
How will it work?
Community testing will be done using lateral flow tests, which are different from normal coronavirus tests.
They are administered in the same way, however, with a long cotton bud used to swab the tonsils and nostrils.
Once the test is complete, residents can get results back within 30 minutes. If the test detects a viral load in the sample, a positive result is given.
Charlotte Pavitt, Bracknell Forest Council’s top public health officer, said: “In terms of community testing, it’s using the lateral flow tests.
“It’s a very similar process to the normal testing process so when you go for a confirmatory test when you’re experiencing symptoms, you go for what’s called a PCR test.
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“What that test detects is the amount of virus -- the viral load -- the individual is carrying. The higher the viral load, the more likely the individual is to be experiencing symptoms and to pass the virus on.
“A positive test means they can self-isolate and we can then reduce transmission or the risk of an outbreak.”
Are the tests accurate?
Bracknell Forest’s Labour councillors raised concerns about the accuracy of lateral flow testing at a meeting last week.
According to the government, lateral flow devices are effective at detecting a high viral load in an individual and registering an appropriate positive result.
However, it is still possible these tests can produce false negatives, whereby someone receives a positive test result even though they do not have the virus.
Ms Pavitt addressed the issue when discussing community testing yesterday (January 19).
She said: “There are limitations in terms of specificity or accuracy in comparison to the gold standard PCR test, however, you trade that off with the quick turnaround time in which it can be done.
“What we are confident of is that a positive result in a lateral flow test is likely to be true and therefore we will be picking up more individuals we would otherwise have not been aware of and we can advise them to self-isolate accordingly.”
Who will be the first people to take part in community testing?
As mentioned above, community testing will target asymptomatic residents who could still be carrying infectious levels of the virus.
However, the council will initially focus on reaching those critical and key workers and anyone else who is required to leave home for work for testing first.
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Charlotte Pavitt explained: “This test will be available for individuals who are asymptomatic who haven’t got any symptoms.
“That’s currently a group of the population we are not testing at the moment.
“Initially, we are going to target individuals who are going out to work and who can’t work from home during this lockdown period.
“We then undertake a prioritisation process where we are prioritising those who are coming into contact with the general public most frequently and who have the closest contact with the general public as well.
“Those will be the staff groups we prioritise first.
“We will go down step-by-step through the entire workforce in a phased approach of rolling this out.”
When will community testing be ready to go in Bracknell Forest?
The council started drawing up plans for community testing on Monday, January 11 and is in the final stages of putting together its proposal.
Once the plans are approved, the authority will be in a position to confirm when the scheme will be implemented.
Charlotte Pavitt added: “We’ve been working very closely with the military planners, the team within public health and the council’s covid response team to identify who those target groups are.
“We are at the point where we will be submitting our proposals for approval by the department of health with a view to starting implementing a couple of sites to start with and building on those as we go through the coming weeks.
“All being well, the sign off will come within a couple of months.”
The community testing plans were discussed at a meeting of Bracknell Forest Council’s local outbreak engagement board on Tuesday, January 19.
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