Nottinghamshire Police is the first force to pilot the new home testing kit.
So far more than 300 police officers and staff have been tested for Coronavirus over the last couple of weeks after police were given key priority status.
This comes as the Government announced that the testing was going to be extended to all key workers.
Previously a smaller group of key workers – those whose work is deemed critical to the Covid 19 response – were eligible for testing, which included the police and NHS workers and the scheme was further rolled out to those working in care homes.
Now, this has been extended to include social care workers, teachers, those in the justice system, supermarket and food production workers, journalists and transport workers.
Since Easter Nottinghamshire Police force has been working around the clock to ensure its workforce is given every opportunity to be tested.
To date 320 people in total have been tested – which includes officers, PCSOs and staff. The force has also been able to test any other symptomatic adults that officers and staff live with if they were self-isolating due to their symptoms rather than their own. The force has seen consistently low levels of abstractions compared to other forces regionally when mapped with those cases recorded by Public Health.
The vast majority of the tests have been negative and people have been able to return to work as normal, with the positive results currently standing at 20. This is set against a total employee establishment of 3500.
Due to the take up of this testing offer by Nottinghamshire Police, the force is now a pilot for home testing as an organisation, which is the next phase now being rolled out.
This will mean symptomatic children over the age of five can also be tested, which currently is not able to be done.Chief Constable Craig Guildford said: “It is really important that we look after officers and staff as they are our most valuable asset.
“It is the right thing to do that we have been able to test our workforce as this not only gives reassurance to those that are being tested but also gives us the reassurance as a force that we can have our cops and staff back serving the public at this time of national need.
“Coronavirus has not stopped us from carrying out our role to deal with demand and to deliver business as usual.
“Our officers and staff have risen to this challenge and are working hard to ensure we manage our daily business as a force – which is to protect our communities and to keep people safe.
“Having the testing has enabled us to be able to keep as many people at work as possible, which means we have been able to meet the daily demands as usual. The results from the testing have not shown anything that we didn’t envisage. The number of positive tests has been extremely low compared to the size of the force. Where we have seen some positive results we have put measures in place to ensure people have the right support and all welfare needs are met.”
The test helps with those currently self-isolating due to themselves or someone they live with having symptoms. This will prove if they have the virus or not. A negative result means the police key worker is then free to be able to go back to being on the front line.
The test being used, called a PCR test, will determine whether a person has COVID-19. It is not an antibody test to identify if people have had it or are immune to the virus. Results may take up to 72 hours to come through.
Mr Guildford added: “This testing has enabled us to get officers and staff back into work that may have been self-isolating due to they or members of their household showing symptoms of the virus. The testing shows if the virus is present or not.
“And due to the diligent effort we have made to get as many as possible tested from the force, we are now able to pilot the home testing scheme. This will enable even more people to come back to work which is exactly where we want to be. ”
