COVID-19 tests at chemists trialled to boost number of South Australians getting checked
Pharmacists could bring the trust South Australians have for them to bear in the fight against the pandemic and help ramp up the number of people being tested, the health minister says.
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Chemist customers with mild COVID-19 symptoms will be targeted for on-the-spot, voluntary tests, in a scheme that could be rolled out across South Australia.
In what is believed to be an Australian first, a two-week pilot program will start this coming week. As fears of a second wave grow across the country, South Australian health authorities will run the trial, which could lead to a much broader rollout to increase the number of testing locations across the state.
Health Minister Stephen Wade, pictured, said the trial in up to five pharmacies would capitalise on the trust and goodwill chemists had in their communities.
“People often present to a pharmacy with mild cold or flu-like symptoms to seek advice from their pharmacist or to obtain treatment for symptom relief, and these are the very people we want to get a COVID-19 test,” Mr Wade said.
“We want to build on our network of more than 60 COVID-19 testing locations in South Australia to make it as easy as possible to get a test.
“As part of our efforts to encourage everyone with symptoms to get tested, over the next two weeks we are trialling a pharmacy-based service, where eligible customers will be asked if they want to get tested while they are in the pharmacy.” Customers will be under no obligation to be tested for COVID-19.
Those who do volunteer will need to be 18 or over, have a smartphone and register with the SA Pathology Personify website to receive notification about their result.
The scheme is aimed at capturing South Australians with mild symptoms who have not felt the need for a test.
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Chemists will not actively promote the service, instead identifying eligible candidates on a case-by-case basis.
The names and locations of the participating pharmacies are not being publicised.
The state’s chief pharmacist Naomi Burgess said SA Pathology had developed a training program to upskill pharmacists in swab collection and infection control so they could conduct the COVID-19 testing.
“Increasing the availability of tests and making them as easy to access as possible will increase our state’s ability to respond to potential outbreaks,” she said. More than 186,000 coronavirus tests have so far been done in SA, including 2727 on Friday.
Chief public health officer Nicola Spurrier has set a target of 3000 tests a day. There are more than 50 COVID-19 clinics for testing that do not require GP referrals. There were no new cases on Saturday.