Sick people forced to queue for 12 hours overnight to get tested as Covid sites overwhelmed for third day running
“I really wish there weren’t 600 of us waiting overnight.” Adelaide testing sites have been overrun for a third day amid reports of freeloaders jumping the queue.
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Testing clinics across Adelaide are overrun for the third day, with people still waiting as long as 12 hours to get tested on Thursday – one of the coldest mornings of the year.
The Advertiser has been told waiting times remain about 12 hours at Victoria Park, and several hours at other sites including Blair Athol. There were similar scenes at testing stations on Tuesday and Wednesday.
There are also reports of a lack of traffic management and motorists jumping queues.
Many had arrived at Victoria Park on Wednesday night and waited through the early hours of Thursday morning – still waiting to be tested well after sunrise.
Nicole Ng, who had been waiting 10 hours, said she had a little sleep during the night but it was “really hard because you always have to be alert to move forward or you’ll jam up people behind you”.
“I really appreciate them getting all of us tested but I really wish there weren’t 600 of us waiting overnight,” Ms Ng said.
“We called up a few (other testing clinics) but they close before 12am or they don’t take people without a Medicare card, so we only had one option.
Stan deBruin was forced to drive to Victoria Park from Mt Barker on Wednesday night as his local testing station closed in the evening.
He was still waiting to be tested after 11 hours and had not slept.
“I got on the end of the line on Greenhill Road at 9.30pm and we’ve been slowly snaking our way round,” Mr deBruin said.
Meanwhile, only a small number of portaloos were provided at Victoria Park, with some in need of a clean.
Samantha Prime said the toilet was “a bit messy” and “there’s paper everywhere in there and mud and water”.
Despite the lack of toilets, there was no line-up for the loo.
Motorists awaiting tests on Port Rd reported queues around the entire block as early as 7am.
“My guess is 400 cars and the joint doesn’t open for another hour,” one person said.
An hour later they reported “moving 20 car spots”, with no traffic police and cars pushing in halfway down the queue.
TELL US: HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN WAITING FOR A TEST?
In Gawler, a new pop-up Clinpath testing site opened at Trinity College at 7am for the first time.
But less than 90 minutes after opening, the school posted on Facebook that many cars in the queue were “unlikely” to reach the testing site before it closed, so people needed to go elsewhere.
However, by 11am the site was accepting new cars.
A security contractor said the line up had to be cleared earlier in the morning as it had reached almost 500 cars in length.
“We had to clear the bulk of cars waiting to line up on Trinity Drive because they were blocking driveways and houses, but now we’re at a stage where we can accept new groups for testing,” he said.
One man near the front of the queue said he had been waiting seven hours to be tested.
There were similar scenes at the Gawler Hospital, where members of the public awaiting a test had to line up in the rain and wind.
Police Commissioner Grant Stevens told radio on Thursday morning authorities were working on a digital booking system so people could book in and avoid the line-ups.
Chief Public Health Officer Professor Nicola Spurrier blamed the wait times on a shortage of personnel.
“In terms of actually having (sites) open, it’s not a problem in terms of the facilities, what our issue is having enough people to take the swab,” Professor Spurrier said.
“It’s so important that the swabs are taken correctly because it’s easy to do a very gentle swab and you don’t get the sample, then we get a false negative.”
Mr Marshall said the government had requested 36 defence force personnel – three teams of 12 – to help with testing.
“That’s on top of the work that we’ve done to redeploy people out of the local health networks in South Australia,” he said.
He said SA Pathology staff and agency nursing staff have also been brought in to increase capacity.
On Wednesday, patients faced up to 12 hours waits at Covid testing clinics while some were turned away before tests, which hit 12,899 on Monday, prompting a raft of new measures to deal with the chaos.
At least 30 Australian Defence Force troops, along with hospital nurses will help with tests. A live wait-times system is being explored, while seven suburban police stations will close so officers can assist lockdown duties.
A new “priority risk” invitation-only Covid testing site was launched at Lot 14 in the city’s East End for those in quarantine, who visited exposure locations.
Opening hours were extended at other clinics to cope with the overwhelming demand
The testing site at Lot 14 on Frome Road is closed to the public but open to those referred by the Communicable Diseases Control Branch (CDCB).
The government will also look to extend the opening hours for other sites such as Modbury where the line stretched to 2km on Wednesday.
Authorities said some elective surgeries had been cancelled so those staff could help with testing.
EARLIER
On Wednesday, Mr Marshall said every effort was being made to ensure Covid testing ran smoothly.
“We don’t want anybody turning away in frustration. There are 86 sites for testing across South Australia,” Mr Marshall said at the Covid press conference on Wednesday.
“My number one focus, Professor Nicola Spurrier’s number one focus, Grant Stevens’ number one focus is making sure we can get on top of the health issues for South Australia so we can open up for business again.”
On Tuesday, there was a 45 per cent increase on the previous record through Victoria Park, which has again experienced wait times of up to eight hours.
Mr Marshall advised people to look at other sites, not just the 24-hour Victoria Park clinic, and encouraged people to get vaccinated – “that’s our pathway out.”
Professor Spurrier said on radio that reducing queues at Covid testing sites was her number one priority for Wednesday.
She said all GP respiratory clinics across the state that formerly only tested people with Covid-19 symptoms would now be undertaking swabs for asymptomatic people.
Prof Spurrier asked people lining up in long queues not to leave the testing sites.
“Please don’t give up, I haven't given up,” she said.
Use the map or table below to find your nearest Covid testing station
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