New rapid testing centres have been set up across Kent in a bid to identify asymptomatic Covid spreaders. KentOnline reporter Jack Dyson booked in at the Sidney Cooper Gallery in Canterbury.

My gaze was fixed on the mirror in front of me as I sunk a cotton bud up my nose. Turning the swab between my thumb and forefinger, I stared at my reflection as my eyes watered. I was testing myself for Covid.

Just days earlier, it had been announced that an asymptomatic testing site would be operating out of the Sidney Cooper Gallery in Canterbury - one of 15 across Kent.

County council bosses hope that by identifying the silent spreaders, they can break the chain of infection. Some 390 armed forces personnel have also been deployed in Kent to support the authority’s bid to stem case numbers.

Having read that scientists are attributing almost 60% of the spread of coronavirus to those who display no symptoms, I was keen to reserve a slot. It required only a couple of clicks of my mouse to book one of the many available appointments, each separated by a minute. I selected 1.07pm on Thursday.

Seventy-two hours later I was ambling up to the gallery at the top of the city’s high street. A burly man wielding an infrared thermometer met me at the door.

“Have you had any symptoms today,” he inquired. I shook my head, pleading with myself not to let out an involuntary cough. He aimed the temperature gun at my forehead before beckoning me inside.

The floor was taped with arrows directing me towards a man in camouflage uniform sat behind a plastic screen. With my hands swimming in hand sanitiser, he extended a sheet of paper and a couple of stick-on barcodes towards me as he reeled off several instructions that were lost behind his mask.

I followed a corridor and entered what is usually an exhibition room. The spaces once occupied by canvasses were now pasted over with pieces of paper.

More men wearing battledress obscured by PPE pointed me towards a cross taped to the floor below the print-outs. The sheets bore a guide that took me through the process of checking in online.

After plugging in details such as my name, NHS number and contact information onto a government web page, I entered the testing station. The space was filled with white cubicles and hummed with activity as soldiers flapped their arms towards available booths, while others collected completed samples.

“Blow your nose out with a tissue, then look at the wall to see how you do it,” said one of the servicemen, as I plonked myself down on to a seat.

“Am I doing this myself?” I asked.

“Yes,” the man nodded, before swiveling towards another potential asymptomatic virus carrier.

A gloved hand lurched out of a hatch to my left. Grabbing the bud from the outstretched palm, I scanned the instructions, which featured diagrams of noses and gaping mouths.

“You can use the mirror,” the soldier called, as he returned to my booth. “You have to go right to the back of your mouth and run it over both tonsils for 10 seconds.”

I tilted my head back, opened my mouth wide and guided the swab towards the back of my throat.

Next up was the nose swab, with the same cotton bud inserted up both of my nostrils.

Once that was done, I handed the swab and barcodes to the man on the other side of the hatch, and strolled out of the exit which led me into Westgate Hall Road.

Fifteen minutes after walking through the door, that was that, and an hour later I was texted the results.

“Dear Jack Dyson… Your coronavirus lateral flow test result is negative.

“It’s likely you were not infectious when the test was done.”

Phew.

To book an asymptomatic test, visit https://kcc.healthit.org.uk/

If you have symptoms, book a PCR test at www.gov.uk/get-coronavirus-test

Read more: All the latest news from Canterbury