Mass coronavirus testing started in Liverpool at noon today. and already hundreds of people are lining up for a test.
The ‘moonshot’ scheme allows residents who live or work in Liverpool to get a coronavirus test, whether they have symptoms or not.
There are currently six new testing facilities in the city collecting results: Lifestyles Alsop Fitness Centre, Exhibition Centre Liverpool, Lifestyles Ellergreen, Lifestyles Park Road, Liverpool Tennis Centre and Lifestyle Garston.
But testing will also be carried out at existing test sites, as well as by using home kits, in hospitals and care home settings, and schools, universities and workplaces.
There are a variety of ways to book a test including online, walk-up, or by invitation from the local authority.
Residents began to arrive at Liverpool Tennis Centre, one of the six new testing facilities opening in the city, about 45 minutes before it opened at midday on Friday.
Veronica Atkinson, 71, was among those queuing outside the tennis centre in Wavertree before it opened.
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She said she was a "bit apprehensive" about getting a test but wanted to know the result.
She said: "I want to be able to go for Christmas dinner."
An 86-year-old man, who did not want to be named, said: "I'm retired and I live nearby so I thought I'd come down.
"The Test and Trace doesn't seem to have worked to this seems to be the best system."
Director of Public Health for Liverpool Matt Ashton said there were "fantastic benefits" to the programme but it would be a learning curve.
He said: "It is a huge logistical challenge so we have to have a sustainable option at the end of this as well.
"How do we have mass testing of our communities in the easiest way for everybody to be delivered and for our communities to engage with?
"This is not mandatory, this is for people to ask for and to get a test, so part of the pilot is understanding where that demand is and understanding how people respond to the pilot."
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