A NEW coronavirus testing centre could be set to open in Winsford, Cheshire West and Chester Council has revealed.

The council, which recently opened a new testing site in Chester, mentioned plans to open a testing centre in the town amid a plea to government to give more control of testing to the council.

In a report for the authority’s Covid-19 Outbreak Board, CWAC says community coronavirus testing has ‘not kept pace with demand’, meaning ‘residents with symptoms, and care homes, are struggling to book tests’.

This issue has been exacerbated by residents being offered tests ‘a considerable distance away’, which CWAC believes ‘may discourage people with symptoms from getting tested’.

The report has also noted that the council ‘is also working with Government via all available channels to seek more local control and capacity for testing’.

Cllr Val Armstrong, portfolio holder for public health, said: “We know our communities, we know how far people can travel, and we know demand is going to be picking up.

“We have that local knowledge which is really important to establish any system of testing and tracing.”

She added: “The current system is not working for us and we would do a much better job of it.”

The authority's plans for a second testing site in Winsford will run alongside launching the walk-in Little Roodee site in Chester, and hopes to open more facilities across the borough soon.

Additionally, CWAC will be launching action plans developed ‘Task and Finish Groups’ to ‘tackle any gaps in current testing provision for key population groups, including those at increased risk of COVID-19 infection’.

It says the groups will also help support ‘specific communities’ that are more at risk of a second wave.

Currently, the UK is processing 213,665 as a seven-day rolling average. As of September 15, 20,521,243 tests had been performed in the UK since the start of the pandemic.

The Department for Health and Social Care has been contacted for comment.