A NEILSTON schoolgirl and her dad have got on their bikes to distribute Covid-19 test kits in their community.

Ava and Scott Montgomery have been saddling up in the evenings to hand out the boxes to residents who have ordered them from Neilston Community Council (NCC).

Scott is a member of NCC, which has been tasked with distributing the kits on behalf of East Renfrewshire Council.

Each contains seven lateral flow tests, which produce results in around 30 minutes.

The pair have also been visiting local businesses to distribute the supplies as part of efforts to find asymptomatic cases within the community and help break the chains of transmission.

“Ava is loving it,” Scott told the Barrhead News. “She has been kidding on she is a Deliveroo driver.

“It’s keeping us both active and the plan was to keep away from doing it in the car, which we have stuck to.

“We’ve been handing out kits every night over the last week and they’ve all been delivered via bike or by walking.”

East Renfrewshire has had high Covid infection rates in recent weeks, which has led to the area being kept in Level 2 of the Scottish Government’s restrictions.

Health chiefs are encouraging local residents to take regular lateral flow tests in a bid to help keep the virus under control.

About one in three people with Covid-19 do not have symptoms but can still infect others.

It is recommended that local residents perform a rapid test twice a week to check if they have the virus.

Anyone who tests positive is asked to self-isolate, so they don’t infect others.
Scott and Ava weren’t sure how strong the uptake for test kits would be in Neilston when they started their deliveries.

However, on the first night alone, the duo handed out 10 boxes.

Scott said: “It’s been a mixed bag of people – some older, some younger and then some people in places we have just dropped into to ask if they would be interested.

“Some of them maybe wouldn’t go and order a kit themselves, so we’ve been trying to get them in some of the shops and encourage those who haven’t taken up the opportunity themselves to order.”

To find out more about ordering a test kit, send an email to Neilstoncomcouncil@gmail.com.