Scotland’s first ever 15-minute dedicated Covid test centre has opened up on Albion Road near Easter Road football stadium, offering lateral flow tests to local residents.

This story was originally reported by Edinburgh Live. You can read the original version here.

For £49, anyone can book a nasal swab test at Rapid Test Scotland’s new centre, which opened up on Tuesday 26 January, 2021.

The company promise to test for SARS-CoV-2 virus particles within just 15 minutes, and say that the lateral flow test they offer has 99.68% specificity and 96.52% sensitivity.

“The UK has struggled most of the winter to keep up with demand for COVID-19 tests. The public is naturally concerned about the virus and many find comfort in getting tested”, says Kristian Poulstrup, one of the founders of Rapid Test Scotland.

“In countries like Denmark, the government has actively urged the public to get tested frequently in order to better catch and prevent spread of the coronavirus in society. Scotland has long been in need of test centres with affordable and quick testing and that is the main reason we’ve decided to open this facility in Edinburgh,” Kristian elaborates.

The tests are carried out by a trained medical professional and Rapid Test Scotland say ‘hygiene and safety are main priorities at the testing facility.’

Head of Communication at Rapid Test Scotland Ishfaq Razzak said: “We haven’t founded the test centre to cater to travellers but we understand that some folks still need to cross borders and in these cases, we’re happy to offer tests that are accurate, safe and quick.”

He continues, “Our hope is that a lot of people can benefit from these tests, for example those who still have to leave home for work every day, those who have carer responsibilities, and those who would simply like to help proactively fight the spread of the virus in our society”.

About Lateral Flow testing

According to the UK government website, “Lateral flow devices (LFDs) are one of the new tools being used to help us to detect and fight COVID-19. We put any prospective test through a rigorous validation programme, which PHE Porton Down has developed in conjunction with the University of Oxford.

“We know that between one in four and one in three people who have coronavirus never show any symptoms but that does not mean they are not infectious.

“These devices can help identify people who have high levels of virus who do not have symptoms and would not otherwise be coming forward for a test.

“Public Health England and Oxford University have performed extensive clinical validation and field evaluations to assess and understand the performance of the tests we are using in communities and care homes. These tests detect the majority of cases with high levels of virus, who are the most likely to transmit the virus. These tests can reliably be used to detect individuals with the virus that we would not otherwise be able to find. Every positive individual detected can stop a chain of transmission once these individuals isolate for 10 days.”

Testing in Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the Firth of Forth’s southern shore.

Recognised as the capital of Scotland since at least the 15th century, Edinburgh is the seat of the Scottish Government, the Scottish Parliament and the supreme courts of Scotland. The city’s Palace of Holyroodhouse is the official residence of the monarch in Scotland. The city has long been a centre of education, particularly in the fields of medicine, Scots law, literature, philosophy, the sciences and engineering. It is the second largest financial centre in the United Kingdom (after London) and the city’s historical and cultural attractions have made it the United Kingdom’s second most visited tourist destination attracting 4.9 million visits including 2.4 million from overseas in 2018.

Edinburgh is Scotland’s second most populous city and the seventh most populous in the United Kingdom. The official population estimates are 488,050 (mid-2016) for the Edinburgh locality, 518,500 (mid-2019) for the City of Edinburgh council area, and 1,339,380 (2014) for the wider city region. Edinburgh lies at the heart of the Edinburgh and South East Scotland city region comprising East Lothian, Edinburgh, Fife, Midlothian, Scottish Borders and West Lothian.

The city is the annual venue of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. It is home to national cultural institutions such as the National Museum of Scotland, the National Library of Scotland and the Scottish National Gallery. The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1582 and now one of three in the city, is placed 20th in the QS World University Rankings for 2020. The city is also known for the Edinburgh International Festival and the Fringe, the latter being the world’s largest annual international arts festival. Historic sites in Edinburgh include Edinburgh Castle, the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the churches of St. Giles, Greyfriars and the Canongate, and the extensive Georgian New Town built in the 18th/19th centuries. Edinburgh’s Old Town and New Town together are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, which has been managed by Edinburgh World Heritage since 1999.

Situated in Scotland’s Central Belt, Edinburgh lies on the Firth of Forth’s southern shore. The city centre is 2 1⁄2 miles (4.0 km) southwest of the shoreline of Leith and 26 miles (42 km) inland, as the crow flies, from the east coast of Scotland and the North Sea at Dunbar. While the early burgh grew up near the prominent Castle Rock, the modern city is often said to be built on seven hills, namely Calton Hill, Corstorphine Hill, Craiglockhart Hill, Braid Hill, Blackford Hill, Arthur’s Seat and the Castle Rock, giving rise to allusions to the seven hills of Rome.

Edinburgh includes former towns and villages that retain much of their original character as settlements in existence before they were absorbed into the expanding city of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Many areas, such as Dalry, contain residences that are multi-occupancy buildings known as tenements, although the more southern and western parts of the city have traditionally been less built-up with a greater number of detached and semi-detached villas.

The historic centre of Edinburgh is divided in two by the broad green swathe of Princes Street Gardens. To the south, the view is dominated by Edinburgh Castle, built high on Castle Rock, and the long sweep of the Old Town descending towards Holyrood Palace. To the north lie Princes Street and the New Town.

The West End includes the financial district, with insurance and banking offices as well as the Edinburgh International Conference Centre.