modern-events-calendar-lite domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /home/woimtgco/public_html/westmidlands/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6170Those living or working in parts of the WS2 postcode area will be encouraged to take a Covid-19 test this week – even if they are not showing symptoms<\/p>\n
Those over the age of 18 who are living or working in parts of the WS2 postcode area will be encouraged to take a Covid-19<\/a> test this week – even if they are not showing symptoms.<\/p>\n Home test kits will be provided as part of the drive, in addition to at least one additional mobile testing unit.<\/p>\n All positive tests will be analysed to identify any further spread of the new variant.<\/p>\n Councillor Stephen Craddock, Walsall’s portfolio holder for health and wellbeing, said: \u201cI do understand that this news will cause concern. Our priority remains very much to keep our communities, and particularly our most vulnerable residents, safe.<\/p>\n “Please do play your part by following the \u2018hands, face, space\u2019 guidance and minimise your contact with others as much as possible.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are aiming to test an additional 10,000 residents without symptoms of Covid-19 in the next few weeks to assess containment of this variant.<\/p>\n “If you are asked to be tested, please do take up the offer. It\u2019s quick, easy and painless and, put simply, you could save lives by doing so.\u201d<\/p>\n Stephen Gunther, director of public health, added: \u201cThe more cases of the variant we find, the better chance we have at suppressing it.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is currently no evidence that this variant causes more severe illness, or that the regulated vaccines would not protect against it, but research indicates that it does transmit from person to person more easily.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know that mutations form a part of the virus cycle and the scientific community is well prepared to analyse new variants and assess what action may need to be taken.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Plans to test 10,000 Walsall residents to curb spread of South African Covid variant Those living or working in parts of the WS2 postcode area will be encouraged to take a Covid-19 test this week – even if they are not showing symptoms Those over the age of 18 who are living or working in … Continue reading “Plans to test 10,000 Walsall residents”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[70],"tags":[71,73,72],"class_list":["post-172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-covid-19","tag-home-tests","tag-walsall"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/westmidlands.woimtg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/westmidlands.woimtg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/westmidlands.woimtg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westmidlands.woimtg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westmidlands.woimtg.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=172"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/westmidlands.woimtg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":187,"href":"https:\/\/westmidlands.woimtg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172\/revisions\/187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/westmidlands.woimtg.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westmidlands.woimtg.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westmidlands.woimtg.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}