Military is supporting Medway Council's fight against COVID-19
The joint Military Command (South East) is pleased to confirm that 175 Armed Forces personnel are now settled in Medway as the Medway Resilience Unit (MRU). These personnel are now finalising their training and will soon be operating three COVID lateral flow test centres across the area.
The Military personnel, drawn from several of units based on 35 Engineer Regiment, will be in the vanguard of manning these test centres and are there to initiate the community targeted testing programme in order to help reduce the infection rate within the Medway Towns.
A Headquarters consisting of tri service specialists from the British Army Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force have been involved in the planning process for the Medway testing sites, in partnership with Medway Council and DPH, as part of Military Aid to Civilian Authorities request.
The Commander of Joint Military Command South East said: "We [JME South East] are pleased to announce that the Armed Forces, as part of our contribution to the UK’s fight against Covid-19, will be supporting Medway Council’s lead in the delivery of community targeted testing at several sites across the Medway Towns. Our planning team from across the Armed Forces have been engaged with the initial set up of the Medway community targeted testing programme over the past few days."
The Commanding Officer of 35 Engineer Regiment said: "My team and I are here to support Medway Council whilst assisting the Department of Health and Social Care in combating the infection rate within the Medway Towns. I and the rest of the Medway Resilience Unit are eagerly preparing to commence this testing programme so that we can help make an impact on the virus affecting the communities in Medway as soon as possible."
This first phase of Medway testing is for critical workers who live and/or work in Medway and residents in the areas which have the highest incidence of COVID-19 cases. All of those eligible for a test at this stage have been contacted directly.