New community testing centre opens in Pencoed

As community testing moves into its second week in Bridgend County Borough, residents of Pencoed, Heol-Y-Cyw, Hendre and Felindre are being encouraged to visit a new centre which has been established at Pencoed Social Club.

With no appointments necessary, the walk-in centre will be available at Pencoed Social Club until 16 March between 9.30am-6.30pm Monday to Friday, and 10am-4pm on Saturdays and Sundays.

The community testing is designed to identify people who may have coronavirus without knowing it, and prevent them from unwittingly spreading the virus to their family, friends, neighbours, work colleagues and more.

At a previous testing centre which was set up in Kenfig Hill, more than 500 residents received negative test results. One person proved to be asymptomatic – i.e. they were contagious with Covid-19 without experiencing any of the symptoms.

Community testing is offering people a fast, efficient way of checking that they are not unknowingly putting their community at risk. With no booking required, the tests are targeting people aged 11 and over who are not already exhibiting symptoms of the virus, and who feel otherwise fit and well. Because it is possible for people who have been vaccinated to still carry the virus, the testing includes residents who may have already undergone a test or who have received a dose of the vaccine.

At the centres, staff will show people to booths where they can carry out a swab test. Each swab is processed upon the premises, and participants will be contacted with the results within 30 minutes. If a positive result is recorded, the participant will be asked to self-isolate while arrangements are made for them to receive a confirmatory test along with further advice and support.

Anyone taking part in the tests should not eat for 30 minutes beforehand. To speed up the registration process, you can also download a Covid-19 QR code app by visiting the Covid-19 webpage at the NHS website. This will enable you to simply scan a QR code at the centre, and will save you from having to fill in a series of forms. Community testing forms a valuable way of helping to protect our local communities, and I hope that as many people as possible take part.

Council Leader Huw David

Once the community testing has been completed at Pencoed, the centre will move on to Tondu Cricket Club between 17-23 March, and Caerau Athletic Football Club between 24-31 March.

For more information, visit the council’s community testing webpage.