FROM this Thursday, July 16, children under five in the North of Ireland can be tested for COVID-19, the Public Health Agency has announced.
Parents or guardians will need to arrive at the site prepared to swab the child.
Currently, everyone over five years of age here with symptoms of Coronavirus is eligible for testing.
The PHA advise that you should get tested in the first three days of Coronavirus symptoms appearing, although testing is considered effective up until day five.
The symptoms of COVID-19 are:
a high temperature – this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature); OR
a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual); OR
a loss of or change in sense of smell or taste.
The PHA say no testing should be undertaken after day 5, unless it’s for a specific reason which will be agreed on a case by case basis by local microbiologists.
