Slough Borough Council has submitted plans to activate surge testing in key parts of the town after a dramatic rise in covid case rates locally.

Plans were submitted to the government yesterday to launch surge testing in specific areas of the town with higher case rates, including parts of SL1 and SL2.

Covid case rates have increased from 23.4 per 100,000 people on May 14 to 72.2 per 100,000 people today. 

READ MORE: The areas of Slough registering the highest number of new Covid cases

Cases are rising in the community as a whole and with the Delta variant now dominant.

Cases of the Indian variant were initially identified in Slough at a number of schools with the schools directly working with Public Health England.

A decision on the plans is expected in the next couple of days.

READ MORE: The number of cases of the Indian variant in Slough

If agreed, Slough Borough Council have said they estimate testing to begin on June 16-16.

Sue Foley, consultant in public health for Slough Borough Council, said: “We have been keeping a very close watch on the case rate in Slough and though our rates are not rising at the same rate as other areas of Berkshire or other areas of the country we do not want to be in the position of Manchester and Bolton with extra restrictions being brought in.

“The Delta variant is much more contagious than previous variants – meaning it passes from person to person more easily – and is now the dominant strain in Slough.

“Slough is also an area which has lower uptakes of the vaccine – because a large amount of our population is younger and only recently become eligible to receive the vaccine – however we are working with our health colleagues to offer surge vaccination drop-in centres and buses alongside the surge testing.

“Thankfully our hospital rates are not rising at the same rate as our cases, but with the ease of transmission and the number of residents not fully vaccinated, our fear is residents could be seriously affected by this strain and more require hospital treatment if we don’t reduce the spread of the virus.”

More to follow.