Waitrose and John Lewis have introduced in-store Covid-19 testing.
The retailers will have testing sites at selected stores to ensure that staff are healthy for work.
In partnership with the Department for Health and Social Care, the tests will be used on the 16,000 Waitrose and John Lewis workforce on a weekly basis. The tests will be voluntary and will have results available within 30 minutes.
“We’re proud to have helped develop and establish a testing scheme that contributes towards the UK’s fight against Covid-19,” said Andrew Murphy, director for operations at John Lewis.
“We already have a wide range of measures in place to keep our partners and customers safe and rapid testing builds on this at our busiest time of the year,” he added.
Baroness Dido Harding, the head of NHS Test and Trace, commented: “This pilot is one of many which will lay the foundations for the next phase of NHS Test and Trace with rapid, targeted testing which will allow us to identify even more people who may be unknowingly carrying the virus, more quickly.”
“In addition to the testing taking place in work places such as the John Lewis Partnership, we are carrying out rapid, regular testing in hospitals, care homes, universities and other areas that we value and that we need as a society to stay open and stay safe.”