Community testing for COVID-19 in Portsmouth

Portsmouth City Council is now offering asymptomatic community testing. This is for critical workers who can’t work from home and who have regular contact with other people during their work.

To make sure we get tests to those who need them most, please only book if you meet the eligibility criteria.

Around one in three people who are infected with COVID-19 have no symptoms so could be spreading the disease without knowing it. Getting tested now will help protect Portsmouth.

Using rapid turnaround tests supplied by NHS Test and Trace, community testing will protect people most at risk by helping to drive down transmission rates.

Eligible critical workers will be able to access testing at the Portsmouth Guildhall site from Monday 22 February.

• Book online 24 hours in advance and up to 5pm the day before
• Register for a testing account before attending your appointment – this will make the process much quicker on the day, and means your results can be emailed or texted to you. You’ll need your account username and password on the day – make sure you bring them to your appointment
• Appointments are available from 8am-8pm, 7 days a week
• On arrival you’ll be signposted to the registration area in the Guildhall
• Use your smart device to scan a card you’ll be given on the day
• Take the test
• Leave by the one way system
• Test results will be delivered to you within the hour
• A positive result will mean you need to self-isolate – view our self-isolating guidance. If, after self-isolating for 10 days, you have not developed you still don’t have symptoms, any symptoms you developed have improved, you can return to work – you don’t need to book another LFD test before returning to work.
• A negative result means you can simply re-book for your next test – you’ll need two tests per week, at least 48 hours apart

Read and download our guide to community testing.

• Portsmouth City Council frontline workers not covered by other national testing programmes
• Staff in early years settings not covered by other national programmes, such as childminders
• Volunteers, including those supporting local authorities and emergency services in providing a welfare response to local residents
• Other critical workers employed by companies with fewer than 50 employees for example:
  • Other public sector workers, especially those working in health and social care.
  • Education and childcare
  • Key public services
  • Local and national government staff
  • Food and other necessary good including supermarket workers
  • Public safety and national security
  • Transport and border including ferry, taxis, bus, train.
  • Utilities, communication and financial.

If you have taken a test within the last 90 days because you had symptoms and that test was positive, you should not use community testing yet. Wait until 90 days after the date of your last test, and book at that point. If you test positive for coronavirus through a rapid turnaround test administered at this site, you do not need to test again for 90 days, unless you get a new set of symptoms.

• If you don’t have access to a smart device on the day, support will be available in the registration area at the Guildhall.
• If you don’t have online access, call 023 9261 6708 to book an appointment.

• Please bring your work/organisation ID to your appointment – testing is for critical workers only
• It’s better not to eat or drink during the 30 minutes before your test, but bring your own drinking water with you for afterwards
• Bring a smart device that can scan barcodes/QR code
• Walk or cycle if possible
• If you have to drive and are using satnav, the postcode for the Guildhall is PO1 2AB – there is free parking for community testing nearby, which will be clearly signposted
• Please wear a face covering to your appointment

A socially distanced queuing system will be in place.

Don’t attend if you have any symptoms of coronavirus – a new persistent cough, a temperature or a loss of or change to your sense of smell or taste – or if you have been told to self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace. If you have any of these symptoms – no matter how mild – ask for a test at gov.uk/get-coronavirus-test or call 119.

We have a selection of posters and graphics that can be printed or used online to let employees and volunteers know about community testing. You can download these materials using the links below.

All the information displayed on the posters and in the images is available on this website. These assets are designed to help businesses and other organisations spread the word about community testing.

• Community testing poster pack
• Community testing – how it works poster