Mass testing scheme to be piloted in north – with all Liverpool residents offered free COVID tests
The armed forces will be stepping into the North West region from Friday (6 November) to deliver the programme - which will see more than half a million people given the opportunity to take a coronavirus test.
Liverpool has been selected to pilot a new mass testing programme – with everyone living and working in the city set to be offered a free COVID-19 test.
The armed forces will be stepping into the North West region from Friday (6 November) to deliver the scheme – which will see more than half a million people given the opportunity to take a coronavirus test.
The pilot has been set up to determine whether mass screening is feasible across the UK – a concept first outlined as part of Boris Johnson’s ‘Operation Moonshot’.
Back in September, the Prime Minister floated the notion of making tests so readily available that UK citizens could enjoy a ‘freedom pass‘ to interact with others.
Now, as England prepares for a second lockdown, the government is embarking on its mission to create a “powerful new weapon in [the] fight against COVID-19.”
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Number 10 / Flickr
All test subjects will receive a combination of swab tests – already in wide use across England – and lateral flow tests, which can use nose-and-mouth swabs or saliva and produce results in 15 minutes.
The aim of the pilot is to determine whether testing at such high speed and scale is viable and effective.
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If successful, mass testing will then be rolled out across the rest of the Liverpool city region and into other areas.
High risk regions with many cases, such as Greater Manchester, may be the next on the list to receive mass testing.
The opportunity to use voluntary “mass testing” in Liverpool can help us get out of Tier 3 when lockdown ends on 2nd Dec. 80% of people who are positive don’t know they have it, this will help us identify them. Let’s do this for our City, our NHS,our people and our economy.
The first batch of tests will be carried out in a mixture of settings – including new and existing test sites, as well as hospitals, care homes, schools, universities and workplaces.
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Anyone who tests positive will receive a text or email from NHS Track and Trace and will be asked to self-isolate.
This isolation period – currently 14 days – may also be reduced to 10 or seven days this week.
Discussing the pilot scheme, the PM stated: “These tests will help identify the many thousands of people in the city who don’t have symptoms but can still infect others without knowing.
“Dependent on their success in Liverpool, we will aim to distribute millions of these new rapid tests between now and Christmas and empower local communities to use them to drive down transmission in their areas.”
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Body of woman found in River Mersey last year finally identified after ‘extensive’ investigation
Emily Sergeant
The body of woman who was found in the River Mersey last year has finally been identified.
Following what has been described as an ‘extensive investigation’ by Greater Manchester Police‘s (GMP) Major Incident Team to determine the identity of the body, which was sadly discovered in the river adjacent to Chorlton Water Park on 21 March 2024, the family of the victim has now been informed and supported by specialist officers.
The victim has been formally named as 38-year-old Laura Stanley, who was originally from Derbyshire but was living in Stockport.
After the body was discovered, and ‘exhaustive and determined’ investigation by GMP officers began to identify here, including detailed checks of both national and international databases.
The Major Incident Team (MIT) also closely worked in collaboration with specialist forensic service providers to create an anthropological profile, which eventually culminated in the creation of a facial reconstruction image.
Following several media appeals, a relative of Laura contacted officers and then a DNA match was confirmed through a familial link.
“Laura was a kind and gentle person with a great sense of fun and adventure,” Laura’s family said in a heartbreaking tribute to her.
“She was generous, thoughtful, caring and always keen to volunteer within the community. Laura was a proud and loving mum and she will be greatly missed by her girls and all of her friends and family who loved her dearly.”
The River Mersey, across from Chorlton Water Park, where Laura’s body was discovered / Credit: Wikimedia Commons
While Laura has now been identified, police say further investigations will take place to understand her last movements, the events that led to her death, and her discovery in the river.
Additionally, as is standard practice, GMP’s Professional Standards Directorate is also reviewing a previous missing report relating to Laura in the time before the discovery of her body, which will determine prior contact relating to Laura, and whether the appropriate measures were enacted.
#UPDATE | A woman who was discovered in the River Mersey last year has been identified following an extensive investigation by officers in GMP’s Major Incident Team.
Thank you to those of you who have shared our appeals over the last year.
Anyone who knew Laura and thinks they may be able to assist with the investigation is asked to contact police by calling 101, or by using the Live Chat Service at gmp.police.uk, quoting log number 1191 of 21 March 2024.
Alternatively, you can contact the Major Incident Team Syndicate 3 directly on 0161 856 9479, or the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
It is currently believed that Laura was last seen around January 2024.
Featured Image – GMP
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More than 70,000 home buyers set to pay thousands after missing stamp duty relief deadline
Emily Sergeant
More than 70,000 home buyers across England are estimated to have missed the stamp duty relief deadline.
This sadly means they’ll be required to fork out thousands of pounds extra.
In case you hadn’t heard, up until yesterday (31 March 2025), anyone who was moving and had bought a home in the past was not required to pay Stamp Duty Land Tax, better-known as just stamp duty, on the portion of the property price up to £250,000.
But from today (1 April), this threshold has now fallen back to £125,000, which unfortunately means that property purchasers are facing an extra £2,500 in moving costs, on average.
While the end of the stamp duty relief will mostly affect those Greater Manchester buyers who had already previously purchased properties, first time buyers are sadly not exempt from the deadline changes too, as their current stamp duty threshold of £425,000 has now fallen back to £300,000 as of today.
Person holding the keys to a new house in their hand / Credit: Maria Ziegler (via Unsplash)
Given that the average property price for a first time buyer-type home is currently around £227,965, according to Rightmove, the new £300,000 threshold may hit those purchasing properties in more expensive areas – particularly the South East.
A third of those estimated 70,000 home buyers who have missed the deadline are thought to be first time buyers.
Leading property platform Rightmove published an analysis in February into just how much of an impact the end of the stamp duty relief would have on home buyers, all while calling on the UK Government to announce a short extension to the deadline to help people in the middle of the property purchasing process avoid potentially thousands of pounds in extra moving costs.
But despite these calls from industry leaders, there was no extension to the deadline announced in the last week’s latest Spring Statement.
“It’s extremely disappointing that the Government has not used the Spring Statement as an opportunity to extend the impending stamp duty deadline for those currently going through the home-moving process,” commented Rightmove’s property expert Colleen Babcock.
“We estimate over 70,000 people are going to miss the deadline and complete in April instead, and a third of those are first time buyers.”
The Manc -
3rd November 2020 
