Public Health experts are still advising Devon residents who show no symptoms of having coronavirus to continue taking rapid, lateral flow device tests twice a week.
The lateral flow tests are free, and they’re available in a range of different ways.
The most popular way is to collect a box of seven tests from your local pharmacy. But from this week, how you do that has changed.
Before you call in to your nearest pharmacy to collect lateral flow tests, to do at home, you now need a ‘collect code’.
This is a code that you need to show when you collect your test packs from your pharmacy.
Collect codes are only available to people aged 16 and over.
You can get your collect code by registering online at gov.uk/get-collect-code
Pharmacies will be displaying posters or leaflets explaining this new change, and a QR code on those posters and leaflets will take you to that webpage.
If you’re not online, you can call 119 (free from landlines and mobiles), to request a collect code. Lines are open from 7am to 11pm.
They will send you your collect code by email or text, and you take that code with you to your pharmacy to collect the test packs.
You can collect test packs for your household or another household, but you must get a collect code for each household.
At the pharmacy, someone will record your code, and give you the tests.
You need to get a new collect code for each collection.
Please don’t forget to record your test result once you’ve done it. A reminder about how to report your test result will be sent to you with your collect code.