COVID: Military Personnel Asked To Extend Support Of Liverpool Testing Pilot

Personnel helping to oversee a mass coronavirus testing pilot in Liverpool have been asked to extend their support for a longer time period.

Liverpool City Council made the request, with the city's mayor saying the UK Armed Forces had helped to test 18% of Liverpool’s population in the scheme's first two weeks.

Around 2,000 personnel originally deployed for a fortnight to offer rapid turnaround lateral flow coronavirus tests to Liverpool residents, regardless of symptoms.

They are also training care home workers to administer the tests themselves.

Sergeant Lewis Dixon, Platoon Sergeant, 1st Battalion Yorkshire Regiment, told Forces News: "We're looking to do that until the end of the week, so pushing until Friday, so a five-day package really.

"For testing, it will continue until 4 December."

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has praised the work of the Armed Forces during the pandemic, adding that it will "certainly have a role" in the distribution of a future coronavirus vaccine.

Cover image: A soldier from the British Army assists with Liverpool's mass testing programme (Picture: MOD).