John Lewis and Waitrose launch in-store Covid testing
John Lewis is set to launch rapid Covid testing sites in select Waitrose and retail shops around the country in a bid to ensure its 16,000 staff are fit for work.
Coronavirus testing will now be available at 40 partnership locations in England, including Waitrose and John Lewis supply chain sites, customer fulfilment centres, textiles factories and selected shops.
The Covid sites, established in partnership with the Department for Health and Social Care, will initially be used to test the company’s 16,000 employees and temporary staff on a weekly basis.
John Lewis said the rapid coronavirus tests, which have a turnaround time of less than 30 minutes, will be voluntary. Test results will feed directly into the NHS Test and Trace database.
Andrew Murphy, director for operations at John Lewis said: “We’re proud to have helped develop and establish a testing scheme that contributes towards the UK’s fight against Covid-19. 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.”
The launch follows a successful pilot in Milton Keynes in the run-up to the company’s busy Black Friday season in November, which saw around 1,000 John Lewis staff tested every other day.
Baroness Dido Harding, head of NHS Test and Trace, said: “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.”