Last week, the Government announced testing was available to all essential workers in England and members of their households who have symptoms of Coronavirus:
- a high temperature – this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)
- a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)
We would like to highlight that the list of essential workers includes: religious staff, charities and workers delivering frontline services, funeral industry workers, journalists and broadcasters covering coronavirus or providing public service broadcasting.
This means that our Granthis that uphold the daily maryada of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Jee in Gurdwaras around England can access testing if they are symptomatic of Coronavirus. We urge all Gurdwara Management Committees to support Granthis in accessing testing if they are unable to do so independently by using this link:
https://www.gov.uk/apply-coronavirus-test
Alternatively, Granthis can ring the Sikh Council UK support-line: 0330 2300 100 and our volunteer team will assist this process.
This extension to testing capacity also benefits numerous volunteers and staff of Sikh charities involved in frontline services such as food aid, media personnel and funeral industry workers.
It is clear that testing, contact tracing, social isolation along with social distancing are the only current effective tools to reduce the spread of coronavirus and subsequent covid 19.
We pray that Akal Purakh Vaheguru protects and delivers the Panth and all of humanity this difficult time.
With thanks,
Sukhjeevan Singh Kandola
Spokesperson (Sikh Council UK)
07703325038
