Sunderland City Run participants told to take three covid tests for event

The Sunderland City Runs running events were cancelled due to the pandemic in 2020 but will return this weekend.

Runners will take on a 5k route around the city on Saturday June 19, with a 10k and half marathon route to take place on Sunday, June 20.

Participants have been told to take three lateral flow covid tests for the event, two before, in order to keep infection rates down.

In a message to runners Gerry Taylor, Executive Director of Public Health and Integrated Commissioning at Sunderland City Council, has told runners to take free lateral tests;

- On Monday, June 14 or Tuesday, June 15, ahead of the event at the weekend.

- On the morning of the race you are taking part in.

- On Wednesday, June 23, or Thursday, June 24, in the week after the races.

Ms Taylor said: “I know people will be really excited to be able to participate in the event, but it’s really important that we don’t undo all the hard work everyone has done to reduce infection rates in our city.“It’s really important that we all make testing a regular part of our everyday lives especially as we start to get out more and mix in large numbers at events like this to help us find people who may have Covid without knowing it, and that we all continue to follow the hands, face, space and fresh air guidance.”

Families with school-aged children already receive free lateral flow tests and they are available from pharmacies and can be ordered to be delivered to homes free of charge.

Tests can be ordered from Sunderland City Council here.

This comes after the number of covid cases in Sunderland tripled last week, amid an increase of cases of the Indian variant, also known as the Delta variant.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that the variant is now spreading faster than the Kent Variant did during the third wave of covid in the UK earlier this year.

Sunderland’s case rate is currently 58 per 100,000, the highest it has been since March.

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