Wirral’s Mayor, Councillor George Davies, visited the Floral Pavilion testing centre this afternoon (Friday 18 June) to thank staff for their efforts in keeping people safe throughout the pandemic.
The Floral Pavilion testing centre has now closed its doors to the public as part of a move which will see more mobile testing vehicles out and about across Wirral over the next few weeks.
The site has been home to New Brighton’s symptom-free testing centre since early December, however, in recent months the Council has been using mobile testing vehicles to target high footfall areas and COVID-19 hotspots, as well as enabling people to get tested twice a week by collecting testing kits from the mobile vehicles and many council buildings. This approach allows them to take the test in the comfort of their own home at a time convenient for them and their loved ones.
The Mayor said, “I wanted to visit today to personally thank the staff who have worked at the symptom-free test centre at The Floral Pavilion. I can remember when it opened six months ago and it felt like a real step forward in our fight against this virus. The army played a huge role in helping us to get up and running , but then it was very much down to our testing team to make it a success.
“They have been brilliant from day one and exemplify the teamwork and camaraderie that has been needed to get us all through in the last 18 months. I know that many of them are staying with us to work on the growing fleet of mobile testing vehicles or will be returning to their previous roles with the Council.
“There is more work to do, and we all need to play our part by getting tested twice a week and getting the vaccine, especially now the vast majority of us are eligible. We also need to make sure we don’t miss our appointment when the time comes for the second jab.
“Hopefully soon, we will all be able to enjoy the facilities at the Floral in the way they were intended, as a wonderful entertainment venue, but we do all need to keep doing the right things to Keep Wirral Well.”
The Floral Pavilion testing centre was launched on Monday 7 December 2020 and has carried out more than 40,000 symptom-free tests with an average of 237 tests each day. The highest number of tests carried out on one day was on Christmas Eve when 1,380 were taken. These numbers have fallen in recent months as workplace and school testing has grown and more ways to collect symptom-free test kits became available, including from local pharmacies and council buildings.
Currently there are six mobile testing vehicles in operation across the borough supporting the effort to bring testing to the community at locations and times that are more convenient to them.
The former House of Fraser building in Grange Road in Birkenhead will still operate as a fixed symptom-free testing centre and is open Monday to Saturday. More information is available on where and how you can get regularly tested in Wirral at: www.wirral.gov.uk/mobiletesting 
Anyone who is eligible (those aged 18 and over) but hasn’t had their first jab yet should arrange their vaccination as soon as possible either by contacting their GP practice, emailing NHS Wirral CCG at mailto: WICCG.InTouch@NHS.net or using the national booking service .
Those eligible can also book an appointment at Clatterbridge Vaccination Centre via the following link https://bit.ly/3cKnWTr
Main image: The Mayor and Mayoress thanked staff for their efforts in keeping the people of Wirral safe and well.
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