South Londoners are queuing up for tests amid fears of South African variants

Thousands of residents queued to be tested for the coronavirus at extra facilities set up after new cases of the South African strain were found in London boroughs.

In south London, Wandsworth Council said the testing operation was a “huge burden” but urged all adults in the area to be tested even if they have no symptoms, while people in Lambeth and an area of ​​Southwark were asked to to do the same. .

People living in an area of ​​Barnet, north London, were also asked to take a test after a case of the variant unrelated to the south London cluster was detected.

A steady stream of people joined queues at pop-up centers on Clapham Common and in Brockwell Park, near Brixton, in Lambeth on Wednesday morning.

Commissioners said they warned on Tuesday afternoon that waiting times could be up to two hours and were forced to stop people joining the queue early.

Around 44 confirmed cases of the variant have been found in Lambeth and Wandsworth, with another 30 probable cases identified, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said.

Facilities offering asymptomatic polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing have now been deployed at Wandsworth Town Hall, Tooting Leisure Center and the University of Roehampton, as well as Lambeth Town Hall and Brockwell Park.

People aged 11 and over who live, work or travel through those areas are being urged to take a Covid-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test in addition to rapid testing twice a week.

Additional testing has also been set up by NHS Test and Trace in the SE16 area of ​​Southwark, where the Department of Health said a case linked to the cluster in Wandsworth and Lambeth has been identified and is self-isolating.

A spokesman for Wandsworth Council said further test sites would be open later in the week.

“People are desperate to be verified,” he said.

“We are in the process of testing around 320,000 people and that will take some time – it is a mammoth task.

“We are doing everything we can to find additional new locations where people can be tested.”

Home test kits are also available for collection by residents at several locations.

Louisa Wells, 34, from Camberwell, said the waiting and testing process in Brockwell Park took her about an hour.

“I saw there were surge tests in the area and they wanted everyone to take a test, so I did what I was told,” she told the PA news agency.

“I’m not particularly worried (about the new variant), but obviously any expansion of it is a concern.”

Another woman, who lives and works in Lambeth, said she was taking “every possible precaution to protect her family… and colleagues” after more variant cases were announced.

Southwark Council said it was working closely with Public Health England to provide additional targeted testing after the variant was detected in the Rotherhithe ward.

“We are delivering Covid-19 tests to properties in the immediate area and are asking residents of those homes to take a test,” the council said in a statement.

A temporary testing site at Deal Porter Square, next to the Canada Water Library, opened Wednesday, and residents can also collect and drop off test kits at home at the Canada Water Library Theatre.

Sangeeta Leahy, director of public health at Southwark Council, said: “We understand this could be worrying news, but there is no cause for alarm.

“We deliver Covid-19 tests to residents in a defined area so we can identify how far, if at all, the variant has spread.

“This variant of Covid-19 can be transmitted more easily between people… it is important that we all continue to follow the current rules regarding social distancing and meeting people outside our household.”

Barnet Council said teams of officials will go door-to-door in areas of the N3 postcode to deliver PCR test kits, and a mobile testing unit will be set up in the car park of Finchley Central Station.

A statement on the council’s website said: “The South African variant of Covid-19 has been found in Barnet.

“From Thursday 15 April we will start testing people for this variant in specific postcode areas affected in the N3 or local high street shoppers.”

The council said the confirmed case of the variant was not linked to the south London cluster.

Downing Street insisted the outbreak was being taken “very seriously” and “strong measures” were being taken to prevent it from spreading.

A DHSC spokesperson said: “Additional testing and sequencing has been successfully implemented in a number of targeted locations to help us suppress, control and better understand circulating Covid-19 variants.

“Surge testing has been well received by the public in those areas, with thousands of tests completed and thousands of genomes sequenced.

“Additional data will be provided in due course.”

The BBC reported that the outbreak appears to have been started by a person who traveled from Africa in February.

According to documents seen by the broadcaster, the country involved was not on the red list for mandatory hotel quarantine at the time, but is now.

Speaking on Good Morning Britain, Professor Anthony Harnden, vice-chairman of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (JCVI), urged people not to “go wild” after restrictions were eased on Monday, warning it could lead to an increase in the South African variant . prevalent.