Permanent coronavirus testing site announced for Harrogate town centre

The testing site at the Dragon Road car park is being built in response to the recent rise in virus infections.

Victoria Turner, public health consultant at North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum, told a weekly briefing that construction of the site will begin on 15 October before it opens a week later.

A mobile testing facility has been operating from the car park but the site is being upgraded as testing efforts are ramped up.

Covid-19 testing errors and delays came at 'worst possible' time for Harrogate and North Yorkshire

Richard Webb, director of adult social care at North Yorkshire County Council, said the county had managed retained good testing capacity compared to other areas and that it will lobby the government for more.

He told the briefing: “We have been fortunate to retain our testing capacity when other parts of Yorkshire have seen it stretched.”

The Department of Health and Social Care is the government body that is responsible for testing and runs several mobile testing units across the county.

By Jacob Webster, Local Democracy Reporter