Get tested
When you’ve got coronavirus, you can infect people for two days before you show any symptoms - and that’s if you get symptoms at all. Most people don’t.
That’s why testing for people with and without symptoms is so important.
If you test positive for coronavirus, must stay at home and isolate for 10 days. Anyone you have been in close contact will also have to stay at home and isolate for 10 days.
If you leave home before then, you’re spreading the virus to other people and you could face a fine, starting at £1,000.
The full NHS guidance can be found online.
Testing for people with coronavirus symptoms
The main symptoms of coronavirus are:
- High temperature
- New, continuous cough
- Loss or change to your sense of smell or taste
If you have any one of these symptoms, book a national test online or by ringing 119. Don’t leave home unless it is to get tested.
Other symptoms
Many people who have coronavirus have also displayed other symptoms. People in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent can therefore get a test as a precaution if they have symptoms such as:
- Headaches
- Aches and pains
- Feeling very tired for no good reason
- Sore throat
- Runny nose
- Sneezing
- Sometimes ‘tummy ache’ in children
If you have one or more of these additional symptoms, book your test online and when you are able to, select the option “My local council or health protection team has asked me (or someone I live with) to get a test, even though I do not have symptoms.”
You can carry on going to school or work if you are well enough to do so, and only need to self-isolate at home if the test comes back positive.
Testing for people without coronavirus symptoms
Residents who need to be out and about in Staffordshire during the lockdown are being urged to have regular COVID-19 tests, even if they don’t have symptoms.
We know that one in three people who have the virus show no symptoms, so it is important we identify more of the “silent spreaders” of the virus if we are to break the chain of infection.
In Staffordshire, we are planning to carry out thousands of tests every single day to do just that.
If you do need to go out for work, shopping or to care for someone then do get tested. It is quick, easy and might just save the life of someone you care for.
So join us and let’s get tested!
Book a rapid test and find out more on our website.
Hands. Face. Space.
Lockdown restrictions are now in place across Staffordshire. You should only leave your home for essential reasons. If you do need to leave home please remember preventative measures such as Hands. Face. Space.
Hands
Our hands are incredibly busy throughout the day. From opening doors to picking up shopping, our hands touch a lot of surfaces and pick up many types of germs.
Although the coronavirus is not likely to survive for long on surfaces that are outdoors in the sunlight, it can live on indoor surfaces for up to 24 hours.
This means that we can easily pick it up and spread it from surface to surface.
We then infect ourselves, our family and friends by touching a surface and then touching our faces or eating food with unclean hands.
What you can do to stop the spread:
Wash your hands regularly with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, and especially:
- Before eating or touching food
- After using the toilet, changing nappies or sanitary products
- After sneezing, coughing or blowing your nose
- Before wearing a mask and after removing it
- Before and after visiting a shop
If soap and water is not available, you can use hand sanitiser instead.
Face
Coronavirus can spread through small droplets in the air which we make when we talk, breathe, laugh, cough or sneeze.
If you’re indoors, these droplets stay in the air for at least five minutes and even longer if there is no ventilation.
Larger droplets can land on surfaces and other people. These can then be touched and spread with our hands.
Face coverings stop the spread of the virus by blocking the droplets so that they can’t be released into the air.
What you can do to stop the spread:
Wear a face covering when you are out and about with people outside your household or support bubble. It is the law to wear one on:
- Public transport
- In a taxi
- In a shop or shopping centre
- In a place of worship
- At visitor attractions like cinemas, museums, zoos or theme parks when these are open
- When you’re having your hair done or other beauty treatments when these businesses are open
You can find a full list of where you must wear a face covering on the Government's website.
Space
If you need to leave your home for essential reasons during lockdown, putting space between you and other people means that you are less likely to catch or give them the virus by touch or through the droplets in the air when you breathe or talk.
It’s so simple, but by keeping two metres away from people who are not in your household or bubble, you protect yourself and them.
What you can do to stop the spread:
Stay two metres away from people who are not in your household or bubble if you leave home for essential reasons.