Food wholesaler introduces rapid Covid testing to protect workforce

Burnley-based food wholesaler, Birchall Foodservice, has introduced lateral flow testing (otherwise known as rapid testing) to help protect its workforce against Coronavirus. 

Hundreds of tests are being carried out every 3 to 5 days amongst Birchall’s team of employees, and results are made available within 30 minutes. The first round of testing was supervised by the army, and all subsequent tests will be administered by an in-house taskforce who were trained by the army. 

If an employee tests positive, they must immediately book an NHS test at a local testing site, and then self-isolate at home until the results of this test are released.

Louise Birchall, sales director at Birchall Foodservice said, “The introduction of rapid testing allows us to quickly identify asymptomatic cases of Coronavirus within the business. By isolating these cases, we can stop any potential spread of Covid and help protect our employees, their families and our customers.

"We are encouraging all local businesses, no matter the size, to introduce frequent, rapid testing amongst their workforce. Small businesses that may not have the resources to introduce testing in-house can use one of the many community hubs that have been set up in and around Burnley.“

The award-winning family-run wholesaler has put in place many other robust safety procedures and policies throughout the pandemic, including non-contact deliveries to their customers across the care, education and hospitality sectors, prohibiting all non-essential visits to the premises, and strict social distancing in the office space.