The former House of Fraser building on Grange Road in Birkenhead is set to open on Monday 18 January as the new home of symptom-free testing in Birkenhead town centre.
This move will result in the closure of the Birkenhead Market testing centre at the end of testing on Friday 15 January.
The building was recently purchased by Wirral Council to facilitate regeneration plans for the town but in the first instance will be used to support the ongoing Covid-19 response.
Councillor Yvonne Nolan, Chair of the Adult Social Care and Public Health Committee for Wirral Council said, “I would like to thank all of the traders at Birkenhead Market for their support. The market was only ever viewed as a short-term option until we could identify a more suitable venue and although the former House of Fraser department store has been purchased to support wider regeneration plans, until those plans are ready to be put into action, it makes great sense to utilise what is a fantastic space for the symptom-free testing.
“It is important that the Borough’s largest town centre, surrounded as it is by businesses who need to carry on operating during the lockdown and whose staff will benefit from priority access to regular and repeated testing will be able to get tested at a venue that is convenient to them.”
To ensure key workers and those people who simply cannot work from home have access to testing when they need it, symptom-free testing in Wirral is now by appointment only.
The following groups will be given priority when booking appointments at our symptom-free testing centres:
- essential workers who cannot work from home
- anyone else who cannot work from home
- unpaid carers who have to leave home
- anyone who has been asked to get a test before going to a medical appointment
To book an appointment at Wirral’s symptom-free testing centres please visit: www.wirral.gov.uk/test.
If you have symptoms of COVID-19 you MUST NOT visit one of our symptom-free testing centres. Self-isolate for 10 days and if you develop symptoms get a test at one of our symptoms ONLY testing centres. More information is available via www.wirral.gov.uk/test.
If you have been identified as a close contact of someone who has tested positive you must self-isolate. Please do not attend a symptom-free test site. You only need to be tested if you develop symptoms.
If you visit a symptom-free testing centre and test positive you must self-isolate. Guidance and support to do so is available here: www.wirral.gov.uk/covidpayment.