Coronavirus NSW testing: long queues, wait times for hotspot areas
People in NSW with flu-like symptoms are reportedly being turned away or giving up and turning around without being tested for coronavirus at drive-through clinics because they are being forced to wait hours in long queues. SEE WHAT COVID-19 HOTSPOT AREAS ARE AFFECTED.
Penrith
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People showing flu-like symptons are reportedly being turned away from NSW Health COVID-19 clinics or going home without being tested because they are being forced to wait for hours in long queues.
The increase in demand for testing has ramped up in the last fortnight with several clusters breaking out across the state, including southwest Sydney and the South Coast.
Residents are reporting wait times of up to four hours in hot spot areas, and that could get worse with news that six testing clinics will close over the weekend in southwestern Sydney.
One resident on the South Coast said she was turned back at the Hanging Rock clinic in Batemans Bay this week.
“We were sent home at around 9.30am on Monday and told to come back tomorrow,” Lynette Gleeson said.
Batemans Bay business Kidz Biz has also made a statement on social media saying it was closing until the owners could be tested for COVID-19 to limit the risk of transmission in the community.
“Unfortunately we were turned away today due to huge numbers and Moruya Hospital is also experiencing the same problem,” the statement said.
The South Coast is home to the worst regional cluster with eight positive tests linked to the Batemans Bay Soldiers Club.
There are now 48 cases attached to the Crossroads Hotel cluster in Casula, 26 cases in the Thai Rock Restaurant cluster in Wetherill Park, and authorities now have fears of a new cluster at the Our Lady of Lebanon Cathedral in Harris Park.
NSW Shadow Health Minister Ryan Park said blasted the wait times at drive-through clinics and said they were “not on”.
“We’ve been calling to allocate additional resources and clinics so people aren’t deterred from getting the important test they need, particularly if they’re in those areas or have symptoms,” he said.
“We need more funds for more clinics, we need to make sure there’s adequate staffing in place, and these are things the government should have worked out.
“The whole point of the first lockdown was to prepare for coming out of it and staying out of it, and part of that was having adequate testing in place.”
A spokesperson for NSW Health told the Daily Telegraph that NSW had more testing clinics than any other state.
“There are over 260 locations for the public to access COVID-19 testing in NSW, with more opening every day to reduce the risk of community transmission in key locations,” she said.
“NSW Health is continuing to monitor demands for tests and is increasing testing resources and locations in response to demand, and additional testing locations have been stood up within a matter of hours in areas where community transmission has occurred.
“We appreciate the patience of all those who have come forward for testing at this critical time in controlling the spread of the virus.”
Meanwhile, people have reported a large discrepancy in the time it takes them to receive their results.
Some reported receiving their results within 12 hours, while others have been forced to contact NSW Health to get their results after the 72-hour deadline.
NSW Health said all positive results were reported immediately to the referring doctor and public health unit, and negative results were provided within an average of 48 hours.
WAIT TIMES ACROSS SYDNEY AND SOUTH COAST
Fairfield
Queues at a testing clinic at Fairfield Showground have eased after a new pop-up clinic was opened in nearby Fairfield West at Endeavour Reserve.
Lines had in recent days stretched outside of the showground, but the new clinic is expected to take the pressure off existing testing sites.
Drivers were today slowly moved through the queue in an orderly fashion at both sites as testing ramps up in the region, which has been beset by a growing number of cases linked to the Thai Rock restaurant at Stockland Mall Wetherill Park.
Sutherland
A wait time of two hours was reported on Monday, with the queue described as “massive”.
The Sutherland Shire had a COVID-19 scare last week when a person that attended Sutherland Local Court last Wednesday tested positive.
That test was confirmed to be a false positive by NSW Health on Monday evening.
Bondi
Cars were reportedly backed up so far along Park Drive North they were blocking the entrance to the beach carpark on Monday morning. There was also a backlog of cars onto Campbell Pde.
Batemans Bay
Batemans Bay and Moruya residents are lining up in droves to be tested for COVID-19 after eight cases have now been linked to the South Coast cluster.
On Monday, residents reported seeing large traffic queues leading to the pop-up testing clinic at Hanging Rock, Batemans Bay. The testing clinic reached capacity before 10am, leading to some being turned away.
Health worker Edwina Fynmore reported working 13 hours at the Hanging Rock clinic on Monday.
Campbelltown
The major coronavirus testing centre in the Macarthur region, a walk-through clinic at Campbelltown Hospital, was close to empty when NewsLocal visited about 1.30pm.
During peak testing periods, the socially-distanced line would stretch several hundred metres down the road however, there were only a couple of people waiting to be tested on Tuesday afternoon.
It is understood there has been a “steady” number of people being tested across the day.
Penrith
Wait times at drive-through clinics at the Penrith Paceway and International Regatta Centre both exceeded three hours as of Monday.
Cars were lined up along both sides of Ransley St, near Panthers Stadium, and several cars were seen to turn around when they were told how long their wait would be.
Despite only being open from 9am to 4pm, testing was still going after 6.30pm at the Paceway.
Harris Park
A Western Sydney Local Health District spokesperson said wait times at a pop-up testing clinic at Our Lady of Lebanon tested 368 people on Tuesday.
“Western Sydney Local Health District has established a COVID-19 testing clinic at Our Lady of Lebabon,” they said.
“We carried out 368 COVID-19 tests on Tuesday, and the average wait time was less than an hour.
“We thank the community for coming forward for testing which will continue to be provided in the church’s car park for as long as required.”
Private clinics
While NSW Health testing clinics have been busy, private, appointment-only, clinics are still running smoothly.
A NewsLocal editor who visited the Roseville Respiratory Clinic last week reported zero waiting time and received his results in 11 hours.
A similar facility in Emu Plains had almost identical results. A patient last week reported a wait time of under five minutes and received their results the next day.