Brighton’s Amex Stadium has been converted into a drive-in coronavirus testing centre for key workers during the pandemic.
The centre is one of many being set up around the country as the government look to drastically increase the number of NHS staff and other critical workers being tested for the disease.
Visits are by appointment only, with the Premier League club urging anyone experiencing symptoms to continue to follow NHS advice.
The club’s chief executive, Paul Barber, said: “It has been amazing to see the Department of Health and Social Care and the team from Deloitte, who are overseeing the set-up of these vital test centres, working alongside the army, club staff, AAA security and the team from our stadium and the club‘s catering partners Sodexo, whose staff are helping to run the site.
“It is hugely impressive, and a great triumph of both teamwork and hard work. The Amex will be the biggest testing site anywhere on the south coast, and will be used for self-testing and assisted testing.”
He said that the centre was due to be piloted with 50 NHS workers on Saturday, before being scaled up to reach its capacity of up to 1,000 tests per day early next week.
The stadium is already being used to store NHS equipment and has been offered as an emergency field hospital in an extreme scenario.
