HERE are the local test sites in Berkshire where you can get Covid testing kits.

Following the government’s announcement that free rapid tests will be offered to everyone in England from Friday (April 9), Berkshire residents are being urged to start collecting their test kits from that date and get into the habit of regular testing and recording their result.

From Friday anyone can access free, rapid lateral flow tests for themselves and their families to use twice a week. Kits can be collected from testing sites across the county.

READ MORE: Five abandoned Berkshire villages lost in time

Where to get a lateral flow device (LFD) test kit

  • Community testing sites (enter your postcode in the NHS site map to find your nearest site and opening times). To take a supervised LFD test at a community testing site, drop in on the day or book an appointment online. You must not go to these sites if you have any symptoms.
  • Walk-through Local Testing Sites (afternoons only). These sites offer symptomatic testing during the morning and, following a deep clean, are open again in the afternoon for collection of test kits for people without symptoms.
  1. Wessex Pharmacy Ltd - Cox Green, Maidenhead - at home test kits
  2. Swiftmeds Ltd - Burnham - at home test kits
  3. Arbor Park Stadium - Slough - For people with no symptoms and a booking is required
  4. The Centre, Sports Hall, Farnham Road, Slough - For people with no symptoms and a booking is required
  5. Langley Pavilion, Colnbrook and Poyle - For people with no symptoms and a booking is required
  6. Windsor Leisure Centre - For people with no symptoms and a booking is required
  7. J Rayner Limited - The Green, Datchet - at home test kits
  8. Simon Carter, Wraysbury - For at home test kits
  9. One Lexicon, Bracknell - For people with no symptoms and a booking is required
  10. Morgan Centre, Crowthorne - For people with no symptoms and a booking is required
  11. Wokingham Shute End LFT, Council Offices - For people with no symptoms and a booking is required
  12. Tanishi Limited, Twyford, Reading - For at home test kits
  13. Microsoft Campus LFT, Building 2, Thames Valley Park, Reading - For people with no symptoms and a booking is required
  14. Rivermead Leisure Centre, Richfield Avenue, Reading - For people with no symptoms and a booking is required
  15. P.S.G. Pharma Limited - 105 Wokingham Road, Reading - For at home test kits
  16. South Reading Leisure Centre, Northumberland Avenue, Reading - For people with no symptoms and a booking is required

What to do after the test

Record your result online or by phone. Instructions on how to do this are included in the test kit.

If the result is positive, you and your household must self-isolate and you must book a confirmatory PCR test.

If the test is negative, continue to follow preventative measures for stopping the spread of the virus, including ‘hands, face, space, fresh air’.

Bracknell Forest Council said regular testing will be an essential part of the easing of restrictions, as it will help to quickly suppress the spread of variants.

You must still get tested even if you have been vaccinated, as it is still possible to catch and pass the virus on after vaccination. 

Charlotte Pavitt, Public Health consultant at Bracknell Forest Council, said: “Rapid testing helps us find asymptomatic COVID-19 cases that we wouldn’t otherwise know about, helping to break chains of transmission. These tests are effective in detecting people that are infectious but have no symptoms and therefore most likely to transmit infection to others. They are another tool we now have to help maintain lower infection rates. We encourage everyone to take up the offer of these free rapid tests – they are quick and easy to carry out either in a testing site or in your own home.

"“It is very important that anyone who has the virus, or might have been exposed to it, avoids all social interaction for 10 days, as this will help stop the spread of coronavirus. By self-isolating when required, you are helping to protect others around you, reducing transmission and saving lives.

“You must only leave your house to get a coronavirus test if you have symptoms, but you must go straight there and back - it is best to walk or drive yourself there if you can. You are legally required to self-isolate following a notification by NHS Test and Trace and could be fined if you don’t.”