You may well have seen the news about the Government’s plans for two Covid-19 testing ‘Mega Labs’ – one of which will be in Leamington Spa – opening in early 2021. The other lab, located in central Scotland is launching later. The aim of the labs is to double the UK’s testing capacity, enabling more tests to be processed more quickly, at lower cost, and with faster turnaround.

About the 'Mega Lab'

The Leamington Spa lab will be located on Harrison Way in South Leamington. It will add significantly to the UK’s daily testing capacity, once operating at maximum capacity. The facilities are being built as permanent, long-term government sites that can be dialled up or down as testing and diagnostic needs dictate, with a proportion of the lab’s capacity being devoted to research. The ‘Mega Lab’ will create between 1,500-2,000 jobs in the region.

How Warwick is involved

Establishment of this National Facility is a major undertaking and the University has been approached by the UK Government’s Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to help support this initiative.

To this end, we have established an internal group, chaired by Mike Shipman, which is liaising with DHSC to understand how we might best use our skills, knowledge and expertise to help.

Currently, departments and teams are being approached where their support is needed most urgently. For example, the School of Life Sciences is providing laboratory facilities, staff and PhD students to help run assessment centres for ‘Mega Lab’ recruitment. The University Health and Safety team are providing support and assistance, and job opportunities at the lab have been promoted to more than 12,000 alumni of the Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine.

As plans develop, we will keep staff and students updated along with opportunities to get involved.