Ealing Council is joining all London Councils to Keep London Safe from COVID-19.
This is a city-wide campaign to make Londoners aware of the importance of COVID-19 testing in keeping the infection rate low in the capital. It includes the BT Tower being lit up with the message ‘Keep London Safe’.
The Keep London Safe campaign has been developed to increase awareness and understanding of NHS Test and Trace, and with the backing of the Mayor of London will drive home public health messaging and make sure Londoners know how to get a test if they are showing COVID-19 symptoms.
Councillor Binda Rai, cabinet member for health and adult services: “We are very pleased to be supporting this campaign. Residents have done well at bringing the rate of infection down by following public health guidance. This virus knows no boundaries, and that is why it is so important we know how to tackle it and continue to keep the rate of infection low.”
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
Insight from a poll carried by YouGov for the GLA* in June 2020 found that:
- 46 per cent of Londoners don’t know how to get a test and 35 per cent know little or nothing about NHS Test and Trace
- Londoners from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds and those over 65 least likely to know how to get a test
- One in four Londoners wouldn’t use a contact tracing app – and concern about privacy is by far the biggest reason
WHEN YOU SHOULD GET A TEST
Anyone with a fever, a continuous cough, or loss of smell or taste should immediately self-isolate for ten days and arrange to get a coronavirus test.
It is important to get tested as close as possible to when your symptoms start, and at least within three days. The test is painless and involves taking a cotton bud sample from your mouth and nose. It does not take long. You can request a test online or book a test by calling 119.
Once a test is requested, you will be asked to attend a test site or carry out a test at home. Results should be available within 48 hours.
Members of your household also need to self-isolate for 14 days from when your symptoms first showed. All of you must stay at home and not see anyone outside of your household. This is because people can have the virus yet be free of symptoms for up to two weeks. You should also tell people you have been in close contact with over the previous 48 hours that you have coronavirus symptoms.
THE TEST RESULTS
If the result is negative, you and your household can come out of self-isolation.
However, if the result is positive, you and your household must complete your self-isolation – and you should receive a text or email alert from the NHS. The alert will ask you to share details of the people you have been in close, recent contact with – and also places you have recently visited – to help protect those most at risk. No one contacted will be told your identity.
Led by London Councils working with the 32 London boroughs and the City of London Corporation, and supported by Public Health England, the NHS, and Greater London Authority, the partnership campaign will span borough boundaries and address the challenges of London’s’ diversity, deprivation and density.
Follow #KeepLondonSafe and #KeepEalingsafe on Twitter and Instagram for further messages throughout the day.
