Wirral Council has been forced to close queues at symptom-free testing sites in the borough due to "incredible demand".
In a statement shared on Wednesday, the council said it has taken the difficult decision to temporarily close queues at the sites, after people began travelling to the area to get tested, adding to the already high demand.
People who are currently queuing outside the Birkenhead Market site have been warned that they may not be tested today due to the queue length which may exceed operating hours.
The symptom-free testing centre at Birkenhead Market has also been closed until the New Year, to allow the council to review how best to deliver this service.
Liverpool Council is also experiencing high demand at the testing site at Liverpool Town Hall this afternoon, with many people hoping to get tested in time for Christmas.
They tweeted: "It's great to see so many people using our @TownHallLpool test site in time for #Christmas, but we would encourage people to visit some of our less busy sites too. You can keep up with how busy we are by using our live map."
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In a statement today, Wirral Council said: "Due to incredible demand we have taken the difficult decision to temporarily close the queues at our symptom-free testing sites today in Wirral.
"*Please be aware* if you are queuing for the Birkenhead Market site you may not be tested today as the queue length may exceed the operating hours of the test site and general market.
"Our sites have experienced incredible demand for symptom-free testing this week and we are now at a point where we are seeing many people from outside of the area coming to Wirral to access the testing centres.
"This is adding to what was already high demand and has resulted in us taking the difficult decision to close early today to ensure we can process the tests from people who have already been queuing for some time."
It added: "We have also taken a decision to close the Birkenhead Market symptom-free testing centre from today until the New Year. The staff will be re-distributed to the Floral Pavilion site so that it can deliver as many tests as possible over the festive period. This short break will enable us to review how best to deliver symptom-free testing in the heart of Birkenhead in 2021.
"Therefore, Wirral’s symptom-free testing centres will now operate on the following times on Thursday 24 Dec (Christmas Eve):
- Floral Pavilion 9am to 3:30pm
- Greasby Library 10:30am to 3:30pm
- Eastham Library 10:30am to 3:30pm
- Birkenhead Market – Closed until further notice
"Our symptom-free testing was launched in early December to help identify those people who did not know they had COVID-19.
"However, symptom-free testing should not be seen as a replacement for the measures we’ve all become used to this year, especially over the festive period. Wearing a face covering, regularly washing your hands and keeping a safe distance are key measures which must still be adhered to in order to reduce the spread of Coronavirus and Keep Wirral Well."
Wirral Council said there is still plenty of testing capacity for anyone who is experiencing symptoms of Covid-19 and needs to get tested over Christmas.
This includes symptoms-only testing centres at Birkenhead, Bebington, Liscard and Heswall which are open every day over Christmas but operating at reduced hours.
You can find available testing sites in Wirral and Liverpool by clicking here and here.
