'We could slip towards lockdown really easily': Northampton Market Square testing centre will not be moved for foreseeable future, council leader says

The leader of Northampton Borough Council, Jonathon Nunn, has today said the COVID-19 testing centre on the Market Square is set to stay.

Cafe Track was set to reopen on Monday (August 3) for the first time since March with a plan to achieve social distancing with tables and seating outside.

But after arriving at the store to restock, director Tom Cliffe called off the cafe's return and filed a complaint with the council because he claimed there was "no warning as to the size and scale" of the town centre's testing centre, which is approximately 10 yards from the shop's door.

Today, the Chronicle & Echo asked councillor Nunn if the mobile testing site outside Cafe Track is set to move as Northampton's cases are decreasing.

The number of coronavirus cases has fallen and in the most up to date data from the week ending August 30, there were 19.5 cases per 100,000 of the population in the town.

Speaking at the press conference today with public health officials, he said: "On the testing site there's quite a few people that don't like it on the market actually, that's the reality of it, I get that and I hear that.

"The reality of the matter is that it's there for the moment and we can't be any more specific than the forseeable future. We could slip back towards that lockdown really easily I reckon. Although we've seen the progress we've seen it's like a ratchet, it's so hard to go one way but really easy to slip back the other way.

"From the advice we are getting from professionals, and what we are seeing is we are seeing good use from that testing centre. But also, I just don't think in the wider picture we would fulfil our obligations to the town if we hurried to try and get rid of that testing centre. It's still there for the forseeable future and as much as I have sympathy and regret for those who have a business or whatever is suffering as a result it will still be there for some time to come, I'm afraid."

Lucy Wightman, director of Public Health for Northamptonshire, said: "One of the reasons that Northampton is seeing an improvement in its position is simply because of the access of the testing site get those numbers through and identify where those cases are.

"We've seen compliance be really high and onward transmission is obviously reduced so it's key tool in our toolbox to address COVID over a period of time. It would be premature to talk about moving that site at the moment.

"Obviously we have the mobile testing centres that do move and we have the ability to move them to areas where we have changes in incidents or even when we have a local testing site already such as Kettering or Corby. If we have a particular borough with a particular issue then we can make sure that we can make testing even more accessible by moving one of the testing units there. It's that combination of movable and static testing sites which I think it key to us successfully identifying where COVID is and getting on top of it."