This private Covid-19 testing service in Liverpool offers free tests for kids so parents can take them on holiday

Parents in Liverpool wanting to take their children on holiday this summer can now get free private Covid-19 tests to enable them to fly.

DAM Health are the UK’s first coronavirus testing service to provide free tests for kids with one paying adult. The free tests will save the average family £200. 

The majority of international destinations require Covid-19 PCR tests before visitors arrive and testing for holidays is not permitted on the NHS, so the company wanted to help out families facing additional testing charges before heading before going away this summer. 

International travel to green list countries resumed on 17 May with airlines reporting a surge in bookings to places like Portugal, Israel and Gibraltar. But while families dream of  sun and sun loungers by the pool, many have been hit with PCR testing charges – adding hundreds to the cost of holidays.

DAM Health has today stepped in to help by offering free private coronavirus testing for children at their Liverpool clinic on Rodney Street with immediate effect.   

Professor Frank Joseph, director of DAM Health UK,  explained that it was simply “a way to help families enjoy time abroad this summer”.

“Parents and children will need to supply a negative Covid-19 test result certificate to travel on foreign holidays this summer,” Professor Joseph said.

Professor Frank Joseph

“We realise how many people will be desperate to get away and enjoy time with loved ones abroad but when factoring in all costs it becomes very expensive when taking the whole family on holiday.

“That’s why we decided to make private testing free for children across all of our DAM Health clinics – particularly as testing is now a way of life. We’ll be saving the average family around £200. It is going to make a real difference.  After the year we’ve had, people deserve a holiday.”

Professor Joseph launched his first Covid-19 testing clinic and laboratory in Liverpool last December but has since opened up 10 sites in London alone with 31 clinics situated in locations across the country from Birmingham to Manchester, Newcastle, Leeds, Nottingham, Essex, Surrey and Sheffield.

Commenting on his company’s expansion and future coronaries testing requirements, Professor Joseph said: “Even with the vaccine, which only reduces the risk of people getting severe illness, we will need negative tests before travelling overseas for holidays, work and for gatherings long into the future.

“We knew that private Covid-19 testing was in short supply when we launched our first clinic in December and we’re now on the brink of becoming one of the biggest private testing providers in the country and with that comes a responsibility to help people such as parents and carers taking their children on holiday.”

Find out more about Dam Health here.