Where to get Covid-tested in SE Qld: 111 locations, wait times

Covid testing centres in southeast Qld: Where you need to book, where children can be tested, new centres and 24-hour clinics. See the comprehensive list and find out the shortest wait times.

The State Government has announced a 24-hour Covid-19 testing clinic on Brisbane’s southside.

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said the new clinic at Eight Mile Plains would be run by the Queensland Ambulance Service.

It adds to another at Browns Plains in Logan.

“Around-the-clock testing is going to be crucial for essential workers and shift workers with irregular hours in the fight against this latest outbreak,” she said.

The clinic has been established at the Eight Mile Plains Community Health Centre at 51 McKechnie Drive.

It comes as big queues and long waits continued at Covid testing centres.

Most drive-through centres reported wait times of at least two hours, but many walk-in centres had waits of half an hour or less.

Police reported crowds were mostly well behaved and respectful to overworked testing staff and traffic marshalls, with only one report of a westside resident taking out their frustration on an overworked testing worker at Ashgrove.

On Brisbane’s eastside, the Sullivan Nicolaides centre in Carina had one of the shortest wait times at about 10 minutes on Monday and earlier today (August 3).

In Redlands, the Capalaba testing centres were quickest on Monday with times varying between 15 minutes and half an hour.

The only 24 hour clinic is Redland Clinic at Redland Hospital.

The Indooroopilly State High School centre was the quickest westside drive-through centre on Monday, with wait times of less than half an hour.

New testing clinics have been set up to help meet huge demand including at Moggill Sports Park, Moggill, which will now open from tomorrow (August 4) after a small delay.

Other new clinics include Court Street Fever Clinic (Ipswich Hospital) (8.30am-7pm) and

Mater Private Hospital Springfield COVID-19 testing clinic, 30 Health Care Drive, Springfield Central (8am-4pm, Monday-Friday).

Queensland Health is currently operating 128 COVID-19 testing clinics throughout the State, including 54 drive-through clinics.

EASTSIDE

MURARRIE

The line for the Murarrie Pathology Central Laboratory was backed up this morning all the way to the Lytton Rd, Mettroplex Ave intersection, or about 1km.

It appears to be at least a 90-minute wait.

Residents said they were told by traffic marshalls they could be waiting a very long time.

“The line up was about 1km long with traffic controllers etc saying ‘you have all day’ in jest as we were driving in,’’ local resident, Liz Walsh, said.

“I think it was about three hours minimum though at a guess.”

Ms Walsh said she left shortly after and visited the Carina testing centre, where there was no waiting time.

“We left (Murarrie) after about 25 minutes and went to Carina and I was in and out within about five to 10 minutes.”

WESTSIDE

Chapel Hill's Bernard O'Brien.

KENMORE

Chapel Hill resident Bernard O’Brien said this morning he had been waiting for two and a half hours to get into the Kenmore Village Shopping Centre centre but was still a long, long way from the front of the queue.

“It’s a good turn up and shows people are taking it seriously,’’ he said.

Raquel O’Grady and her three young children thought they could beat the crowds by heading to Kenmore Village drive through site about 7am but a line of cars was already snaking through the carpark and down Brookfield Rd.

She wasn’t tested until about 11am.

“I wasn’t expecting four hours, I was expecting maybe a couple,” Ms O’Grady said.

She said her children handled the wait well and were kept occupied by a boot full of toys.

Tofiga Fa’aleava was more than two hours into his wait when he turned into the shopping centre carpark about 10.30am.

“I kind of figured that it would be hectic but what I’m enjoying is that everyone has been really calm about it,” Mr Fa’aleava said.

“There’s no panic and I haven’t seen anyone beeping horns or anything.”

Testing staff were run off their feet at the Ashgrove pop-up centre.

ASHGROVE

It seems every family with kids at Brisbane Grammar School or Brisbane Girls Grammar School turned out to be tested this morning at the Waterworks Rd drive-in centre in Ashgrove.

The first six people Quest Newspapers spoke to all had sons or daughters at the two schools, where positive Covid cases visited on the weekend.

The conga line of cars snaked through the carpark and up Waterworks Rd, continuing for half the length of Coopers Camp Rd — about 1km.

There were relatively short wait times at the pop-up ISHS site this morning.

INDOOROOPILLY

After a mad rush to be tested on the weekend, following news that a positive Covid case had visited Indooroopilly State High School, the line-up at the ISHS pop-up testing centre this morning was relatively quiet.

QML pathology staff were quickly processing residents, many of whom were in and out in about half an hour.

SOUTHSIDE

More than 20 clinics are conducting Covid tests in Brisbane’s southside area, including the QML testing site at Acacia Ridge and the 4Cyte testing site at Eight Mile Plains.

The queues weren't too bad this morning at Eight Mile Plains.

EIGHT MILE PLAINS

People lining up at drive-through testing site in Eight Mile Plains are waiting up to four hours to get a test at the London St site. A new 24 hour testing centre has also opened up on Tuesday at Eight Mile Plains Community Health Centre on Tuesday.

Huge waits faced residents in Acacia Ridge.

ACACIA RIDGE

The wait was much longer for those lining up at Acacia Ridge with a line of traffic backed up along Mortimer Rd and down Dutchman Ave past the entrance of Archerfield Airport

LOGAN

There are nine main COVID testing sites across Logan with reports that all queues have been moving fairly quickly. Drive-through centres are at Edens Landing and Meadowbrook.

Jimboomba, Crestmead, Waterford West and Browns Plains all open before 6.30am.

The busiest facilities are the drive-through centres with standard waiting queues of about 20 minutes.

The fastest centre was Logan Hospital, where people reported walking straight in and out within 20 minutes.

The testing centre at 350 Loganlea Rd, Meadowbrook was also give the thumbs up for not being congested.

However, reports on Tuesday also showed there were waiting lines of up to two hours at the Meadowbrook drive-though centre.

Other complaints included people being turned away at 2pm when the facility was closing at Crestmead.

All testing is free. At the Edens Landing clinic this morning, there was a line up of about 25 cars with it taking up to 20 minutes to get to the top of the line. There is no testing clinic in Eagleby after police were called to two pop-up test clinics at the beginning of the year, forcing Medlab to pack up and leave the car park outside the Eagle Tavern.

The drive-through queue at Edens Landing in Logan on Tuesday, August 3.

To support Queensland’s response to COVID-19, people who do not have adequate insurance coverage and are not eligible for Medicare will not be charged out of pocket expenses if they present to any Queensland Health facility for assessment in relation to COVID-19 infection.

You can book a test appointment at the following clinics:

Browns Plains Community Health Centre: Middle Rd & Wineglass Dr, Hillcrest QLD. Mater Pathology Cleveland Respiratory Clinic at 46-50 Middle Street, Cleveland, PA Hospital Community Screening Clinic: 20 Cornwall Street, Annerley and Redland Clinic: Weippin St, Cleveland.

MORETON

Cars waiting outside Caboolture Seventh Day Adventist Church.

CABOOLTURE

Clinics across the region were kept busy with long lines at the drive-through centre at Caboolture Seventh Day Adventist Church.

Cars were stretched back for well over a kilometre as the queue moved slowly through the 4Cyte Pathology testing centre.

There was even a poor woman waiting in a motorised scooter in the full sun.

One man said he had been waiting for over an hour but was still at the back on the queue.

Another man said he went to the community health centre in Lawnton and had been waiting for over four hours to be tested this morning.

MORAYFIELD

Nearby at the Morayfield Respiratory Clinic on Dickson Rd, people were lining up patiently for testing despite long waits.

The site, at the Health Hub near Morayfield Shopping Centre, has been busy since the doors opened at 8am.

The clinic is urging anyone with symptoms to book an appointment online or call, however phone lines have been tied up most of the morning.

IPSWICH

IPSWICH CITY

One of Ipswich central’s popular drive through clinics, at Burley Griffin Drive, already had a long line-up early Monday as the latest case numbers filtered through to the community.

A spokeswoman for the centre said the queue of cars was so long staff couldn’t see the end of it.

“We can’t see the end of the line and I’m guessing it’s going to be like that everywhere,” the spokeswoman for 4Cyte Ipswich said.

“It’s a very, very large line that we can’t see the end of.”

So far, staff haven’t had to turn people away but waiting times have increased since early Monday morning.

“We don’t know how long they’re waiting but don’t generally ask,” the spokeswoman said.

“It was apparently 45 minutes earlier but not too sure (how long) now but it would be much longer now.”

The Ipswich Hospital Court Street Fever Clinic is open seven days a week, 8.30am-4pm, with Monday’s hours extended to 7pm.

The Ipswich CBD vaccination clinic at Nicholas St reopened Monday, and is open this week on Monday to Friday from 8am-4pm.

BOOVAL

Staff at the Sullivan Nicolaides testing centre at Booval said there was a long queue early Monday which was beginning to ease late this morning.

The clinic has put on an additional three staff collecting test samples, which has eased waiting times for patients.

“We have four collectors (conducting tests) now so it will be quick,” the spokeswoman said.

REDLANDS

Testing centre staff at 4Cyte Capalaba talk to a resident.

Residents reported mixed waiting times, with some experiences varying from no wait at all to three-and-a-half hours.

Teale McKell said: “Just got tested, waited two-and-a-half at the church on the corner of Delancy and Finucane Rd in Cleveland at QML Pathology.”

Dawn Rowe said: “Was tested last Thursday, didn’t wait at all, only one other at QML Pathology Cleveland - in and out. With results at midnight.”

And Nicki Whyte said: “My son got tested this morning at Sullivan Nicolaides Capalaba, all done very quickly.”

Deborah Macgillivray said: “Was tested yesterday at 4Cyte Pathology, three-and-a-half hour wait.”

Nicole Comb said: “Just been through the 4Cyte Pathology drive through at Capalaba which took about half an hour to get through.”

REDLANDS TESTING CENTRES:

4Cyte Pathology at 450-452 Mount Cotton Road, Capalaba

Sullivan Nicolaides Capalaba at 189 Old Cleveland Rd

QML Pathology Cleveland at 39-55 Delancey St

Sullivan Nicolaides Cleveland at 120 Bloomfield St

Mater Pathology Cleveland at 46-50 Middle St

QML Pathology Cleveland at 39-55 Delancey St

Redland Clinic (Redland Hospital) at Weippin St, Cleveland

Sullivan Nicolaides Victoria Point at 451-453 Cleveland-Redland Bay Rd

Mater Pathology Macleay Island Clinic at 14 Brighton Rd

Mater Pathology Russell Island clinic at 2 Alison Crescent