Far North residents fed-up with six-hour delays for Covid tests

Long waits for Covid testing at a private testing clinic in the CBD has many – deterred by lengthy queues from 8am – giving up on the procedure as residents call for action to fix the system.

UPDATE: Soon after opening this morning QML Pathology’s Florence St facility had a queue more than 100m long stretching around the corner down Grafton St.

Arriving when the clinic opened at 6.30am John Lockwood reached the lead of the line by 9.30am.

Long waits for Covid tests have been reported at QML Pathology's Florence St clinic in the Cairns CBD. Picture: Peter Carruthers

“We were just lucky we got here early, so it wasn’t as hot, until now,” he said.

Others further back in the line said the length of the queue so early in the morning discouraged people needing tests that were unwilling to brave 30C temperatures.

The queue at QML Pathology's Florence St clinic stretched around the corner into Grafton St this morning. Picture: Peter Carruthers

INITIAL: Six-hour waits for Covid testing in Cairns have pushed frustrations to boiling point, with some Far North residents calling for action to fix the system.

In a 24-hour-period to Monday, 160 new cases were recorded in the Cairns and Hinterland region making the total number of cases since the start of the pandemic 746.

Maitland Chitty from Cairns said he was absolutely sick of waiting at Cairns Hospital and would rather there be better supply of rapid antigen tests.

“The government needs to fix it,” he said.

Cairns City resident Maitland Chitty waited for over six hours for his test at the Covid-19 testing centre set up outside the Cairns Hospital. He went to get tested after his housemate tested positive to Covid-19. Picture: Brendan Radke

“I went to the Chemist Warehouse, 24-hour medical centre. No one had it anywhere so I had to come here.”

Isabel Azcune from Cairns said she thought the line at the Portsmith drive-through centre was too long so she tried the hospital instead.

“The line was four blocks long so we turned around. This was the next best option,” she said.

Lori Magro, from Cairns City, said she was getting tested because she went to Gilligan’s for New Year and has since developed symptoms.

But the delays at Cairns Hospital was pushing her patience.

I’m not too happy with it. It’s a hot sweaty day and I expected a better set up,” she said.

“A lot of people are getting turned away and they are just trying to do the right thing.”

Many people at the lines were getting confused over the new testing requirements.

The new definition of a close contact is if you live with or have stayed in the same household of someone for more than four hours during a confirmed case’s infectious period.

Cairns residents are experiencing waiting times of up to seven hours to get a PCR test from Queensland Health. People were forced to wait outside in the hot summer sun on Monday at the Covid-19 testing centre set up outside the Cairns Hospital. Picture: Brendan Radke

Lucy Benson from Kewarra Beach said she did not understand the new contact tracing rules.

“If the person I worked with all day yesterday tests positive, can I not get tested because they weren’t at my house?,” she said.

A Queensland Health spokesman said PCR testing demand escalated quickly in 2021 but with the expanded use of rapid antigen tests and the changes to definitions of close and casual contacts lines should ease.

“Only those with symptoms of Covid-19 need to get a PCR test,” the spokesman said.

Cairns City resident Richmond Mwanza of Trinity Beach and Lucy Benson of Kewarra Beach were waiting for over an hour and expected to wait many more for a PCR test at the Covid-19 testing centre set up outside the Cairns Hospital. The friends went to get tested after a friend they saw on New Year's Eve tested positive to Covid-19. Picture: Brendan Radke

“If you’ve taken a RAT and receive a positive result, you should assume you have Covid-19 and should immediately isolate at home with all household members.”

If you test positive you must get a PCR test to confirm this.

Starting from January 5, test kits will be handed out to eligible close contacts at state health clinics requiring day six testing before the release of quarantine.

“If you do not have access to RAT test, we recommend you defer your day six PCR test until 4 January 2022 or shortly thereafter,” the spokesman said.

Originally published as Far North residents fed-up with six-hour delays for Covid tests