NHS teams at the Lighthouse lab have now processed over five million Covid tests, with samples coming in from the region and beyond.
The 800-strong lab team, part of the Integrated Covid Hub North East, which is hosted by Newcastle Hospitals, is turning around fast and accurate results, enabling the track and trace service to contact people in a timely way and support them to take the necessary precautions to protect themselves, their family and friends.
The co-ordination and response centre at the Covid hub is providing additional capacity for local councils to manage contact tracing through a dedicated call centre. In addition, information and data analysis services provided by the hub provide tailored insight to support council’s with outbreak management and rapid response.
Regular testing, robust contact tracing and Covid vaccination remain critical to controlling the pandemic and creating safe communities.
More information about the hub is available here