Asymptomatic Covid testing service in Nottingham recommended for formal accreditation

An asymptomatic Covid testing service at the University of Nottingham has been recommended for accreditation by the Government.

Students will now no longer need to get a second confirmation NHS test after using the University's saliva test.

The University of Nottingham’s asymptomatic Covid-19 testing service has been recommended for accreditation from the government to allow its unique non-invasive saliva testing process to be simplified and sped up by removing the need for a second confirmation NHS test.

Staff and students without symptoms who use the university asymptomatic testing service and test positive will now only need to test once and will no longer be required to take an NHS confirmatory test.

They will also be able to begin 10 days isolation from the day they took the university test. Results are linked to the NHS Track and Trace programme.

People with symptoms still need to continue to get tests via the NHS.

This accreditation will be the first to be given to a university and the University of Nottingham will be one of only 8 labs specifically accredited for CV-19 testing in the UK.

The testing service has been a huge success since its launch in September 2020, with over 78,000 student and staff tests carried out by a team of 25 core team members and 80 student helpers.

The Public Health team at Nottingham City Council have reminded residents to get tested.