NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet flags changes amid testing crisis

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has revealed one group of people could be urgently fast-tracked as the state’s Covid testing crisis continues.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet says pregnant women should not be standing in Covid-19 testing queues but insists the health system is coping with a “transitional period” to living with the virus.

Speaking to reporters in Wagga Wagga, Mr Perrottet responded to media reports that women in their final weeks of pregnancy were being forced to spend hours in lengthy queues every few days because of hospital testing requirements.

“Well, that shouldn't happen. No one who is pregnant should be sitting in long queues. I spoke to the Health Minister (Brad Hazzard) this morning and asked him to fix it,” he said on Tuesday.

“My understanding is that he’s getting it fixed today.”

Testing centres across NSW, including in Wagga, have been inundated as the Omicron variant fuels thousands of daily infections and between 90,000 and 150,000 people get tested each day.

The surge in demand has left pathologists and NSW Health staff overwhelmed and struggling to process tests, causing days-long wait times for results even after people make it to the end of lengthy queues to get tested.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet says the state is in a ‘transitional period’. Picture: NCA Newswire / Gaye Gerard

Mr Perrottet, who was in Wagga to visit the regional city’s newly renovated hospital, said he knew people across the state were making an enormous effort lining up for testing.

He reiterated his plea for people only to get PCR tests if they’re feeling unwell or if NSW Health has contacted them asking them to do so, claiming there were “still many people in those queues who don’t need to be there”.

Mr Perrottet and Mr Hazzard have sought to blame interstate testing requirements and asymptomatic NSW residents for much of the strain on testing resources.

But they insist the state’s health system – including its hospitals – can cope even if it is under pressure.

The number of Covid patients in intensive care in NSW has risen from 39 to 60 in the past week.

There were 39 patients in intensive care units across the state on December 21, health department figures show.

However by Tuesday, just seven days later, that number had swelled one-and-a-half times to 60.

Patients needing a ventilator rose from 11 to 17, while hospitalisations overall jumped from 284 to 557 over the same period.

It comes as NSW reported 6062 new Covid-19 cases and one new death on Tuesday.

Premier Dominic Perrottet has previously said any new restrictions or lockdown measures would not be determined by surging case numbers, but by the strain put onto hospitals through Covid patients admitted into wards or intensive care units.

The graph shows a rise in Covid patients in NSW over the past week. Source: www.covid19data.com.au

New daily infections dropped slightly from Monday, when 6324 cases were recorded.

It follows 6288 infections reported on Christmas Day and another 6394 cases confirmed on Boxing Day.

While case numbers have remained relatively steady, hospitalisations and ICU presentations have increased.

On Saturday there were 388 people in hospital, with 52 patients in ICU. Those figures have steadily increased to Tuesday.

There were 93,581 coronavirus tests conducted in the 24 hours to 8pm on Monday, as demand continues to overwhelm testing capacity across the state.

Testing clinics have been swamped in NSW as the state records thousands of daily cases. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

Testing clinics have been inundated for more than a week with hundreds of thousands of people getting tested over the Christmas period.

People are waiting for hours at some clinics while others have had to shut as soon as they open in order to process the lengthy queues already there.

Many people have reported extensive delays waiting for their test results, while two major bungles at a Sydney pathology lab have resulted in hundreds of Covid-19 positive people being out in the community.

SydPath – operated by St Vincent’s Hospital – confirmed on Tuesday morning it had sent negative results to 950 additional people when “about half” of them actually had the virus.

With NSW’s testing sites swamped, Health Minister Brad Hazzard attacked Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk for her refusal to scrap a rule requiring interstate visitors to return a negative PCR test before they enter.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has urged other state leaders to scrap PCR testing requirements for interstate travellers. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

The NSW and Queensland governments have been locked in an argument over whether the northern state’s rules are overwhelming interstate testing clinics.

Meanwhile, Victoria has recorded a jump in Covid infections, with a record 2738 new cases announced on Tuesday and four deaths.

The spike comes after 1999 new infections were announced on Monday along with three deaths.

There are 361 people in hospital, with 69 in intensive care and 33 on ventilators.

There were 66,683 tests conducted on Monday and 92 per cent of the Victorian over 12 population have had two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine.

In NSW, of the over 16 population, 93.5 per cent are now double-dose vaccinated, while 95 per cent have had at least one shot.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet is visiting the regional centre of Wagga Wagga on Tuesday, where he is expected to provide a Covid-19 update after midday.

Originally published as NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet flags changes amid testing crisis