Chaos across Australia’s Covid testing sites as wait times stretch for hours

Australians are facing massive wait times for Covid testing with huge queues in multiple states ahead of Christmas.

Covid testing sites have descended into chaos across Australia with mammoth queues forcing people to wait for hours.

At Adelaide’s Victoria Park, waiting times are stretching up to eight hours with some people arriving before midnight.

South Australians vented their frustrations on social media, with some saying the state “wasn’t ready” for Covid’s inevitable entry.

A testing site worker at Heffron Park in Maroubra, Sydney.

One woman, who had travelled from Melbourne, said she arrived at the site just after 4am and was told the wait time was already more than five hours.

“Waiting in line at #VictoriaPark for Day 1 arrival testing, 3.5 hours already. Am told still another 5+ hours ahead,” she wrote.

“Not sure SA was ready? Thinking of those here who are actually sick, potentially with COVID-19, and are stuck in their cars when they ought to be resting.”

In New South Wales cases surged to a new daily record on Tuesday, with more than 3000 new cases from 136,972 tests.

A banked-up Covid testing clinic at Ridgehaven, SA, with limited bathroom facilities, one red portaloo is being used on site. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Emma Brasier

Wait times at Victoria Park are stretching up to eight hours. Picture: Keryn Stevens

The massive spike is putting immense pressure on the state’s testing facilities with reports of wait times of up to several days to receive test results.

South Australian recorded its highest daily tally since the pandemic began with 105 new cases on Monday.

Queensland, which is preparing for an influx of visitors during the festive period, requires people from NSW or Victoria to take a Covid test on day five of their trip.

So far, more than 200,000 border passes have been granted to interstate travellers and fines will be slapped on those who don’t follow the state’s testing protocols.

In Victoria, drive-through sites across Melbourne were jam-packed before opening on Tuesday morning.

A total of 71,491 Victorians turned out to get tested on Sunday, behind the record 88,000 who were swabbed on Friday.

Melbourne Showgrounds was backed up with waiting traffic before its 7am opening as people scramble to confirm their results before Christmas.

Covid testing queue at Albert Park as COVID 19 numbers begin to increase across Melbourne. Picture: David Crosling

Staff have said the site is already close to reaching capacity, while the Albert Park facility already has a 3.5 hour wait time.

The surge is likely attributed to mandatory testing requirements for interstate travel during the festive period.

Victorian travellers are subject to a range of conditions to enter Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory.

Twenty more testing sites opened across the state last weekend to deal with the surge and a further 20 extended their operations by an hour.

Acting Premier James Merlino said the sites were opening their doors at 7am instead of 8am as the demand was persistent throughout the day.

“We’ve been making measures to extend the hours or make the hours more usable for people,” he said.

Covid testing queue for a clinic in Bourke Street as Covid numbers continue to increase across Melbourne. Picture: David Crosling

“I know there are particular sites where the wait is long but on average, the wait is 45 minutes to an hour or so.

“I ask people to be patient. We’re expanding it, extending it, as much as we can.”

Testing sites in Sydney are also choked as people rush to receive results before Christmas celebrations.

There are also concerns about the availability of home testing kits with some pharmacists selling out.

One in four Victorians who contracted Covid last week waited more than two days to get tested after noticing symptoms.

The figure was the highest proportion of positive cases not identified within 24 hours of any state or territory except the Northern Territory in the past six weeks.

Originally published as Chaos across Australia’s Covid testing sites as wait times stretch for hours