MORE than 9,000 tests have been completed by West Ealing and Hanwell residents as part of a drive to find out how far the South African variant of coronavirus has spread in the area.

As of Friday, February 19, council leader Julian Bell confirmed the progress of the mass testing exercise, which began on February 1, aiming to test 10,000 people living and working in parts of the W13 and W7 postcodes.

In a council statement earlier on Friday, a breakdown showed of 8,968 tests completed so far, 5,952 were done through home testing kits given out by the council's teams, 2,281 people had used the mobile testing site at Dean Gardens Car Park and 735 people had carried out tests at local schools, nurseries and shared accommodation.

And in a statement cllr Bell said: "Since the pandemic started, the people of Ealing have shown time and time again their amazing community spirit.

"I want to thank everyone who took a test for continuing to do their bit to keep Ealing safe from this deadly virus."

And speaking in his weekly video, he added: "Any samples found to be positive for coronavirus by NHS Test and Trace have been sent off for further analysis to determine which strain of the virus those people had.

"The council is awaiting confirmation of the results of this extra testing by NHS Test and Trace and Public Health England.

"People found to have the South African variant will be contacted by Public Health England a couple of weeks after they took their test."