PCR testing availablity letter

A4 double sided letter to Lambeth residents dated 22 April 2021, informing everyone in the borough over the age of 11 to get a PCR test due to a new variant being detected and where to get test kits

This letter advised anyone aged over 11 years living or working in Lambeth to take a free PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test due to the reports of a new variant of COVID-19. First identified by a team at University of KwaZulu-Natal in December 2020, this variant was linked to increases in hospital treatment and deaths. Initially there were concerns that the newly rolled out vaccines would be less effective against this strain of COVID-19. The letter lists where tests could be collected and returned across the Lambeth borough. Laboratory PCR tests were at the time the only test available for COVID-19.

Renamed as beta, this variant was a variant of concern in April 2021 but from March 2022 was declared as no longer circulating by the World Health Organisation.