The location of the county's fourth COVID-19 community testing site has been revealed by Gloucestershire County Council and it opens tomorrow.

Opening on March 24, testing at this site is for people with no symptoms but who still have to leave the house for essential reasons.

Located at The Link Youth Support Centre on Link Road in Tewkesbury, it will be one of four in the county. Three testing centres are located at The Friendship Café in Gloucester, the Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester and Miner's Welfare Hall in Cinderford. 

Suitable sites for Cheltenham and Stroud are currently being explored.

The testing on offer uses Lateral Flow Devices (LFDs) to help identify the virus, before it has the chance to spread. Whilst people are still required to 'Stay at Home', LFD testing is mainly for those who still have to leave the house for essential reasons, including for work or to care for others.

For LFD tests to be effective you need to get tested at least twice a week. Residents are encouraged to book a test at their nearest site. People who are clinically extremely vulnerable should continue to shield.

Sarah Scott, executive director of Adult Social Care and Public Health, said: "Covid hasn't gone away and to help keep life moving, we all must play our part in keeping cases down. Research shows that 1 in 3 people who get Covid experience no symptoms, which means they could be passing the virus on to others without even knowing it.

"Whilst a negative test does not 100 per cent mean that a person doesn't have the virus, the test tends to catch people when they are most infectious, helping prevent the spread to others."