Randwick mayor says he has heard reports of local testing clinics in ‘meltdown’

There have been massive queues for Covid tests this Christmas, with one mayor saying he had heard reports of clinics being in “meltdown”.

A Sydney mayor says he has heard reports of testing clinics being “in meltdown” in his area as wait times blew out in some parts of the state amid a record day of infections.

One person, who is a state parliament employee and was seeking testing as a close contact, was standing in line at Prince of Wales Hospital in Randwick.

They said they saw dozens of people appearing to be turned away amid overwhelming demand, while others queued for more than five hours before being tested.

“We got there at 8am, the place opened at 9am and we got tested at about 3:10pm,” the person said.

“At 2pm they said ‘look, we just can’t test everyone who is already lined up’.

“One woman said she had taken four positive rapid antigen tests and they just had to turn her away because they didn’t have the staff. There were a lot of angry and frustrated people.

“At the start people were distancing, but as the day got hotter people compressed under the shade.”

Randwick Mayor Dylan Parker said he had heard reports that local testing was in “meltdown”.

“Hundreds of people waiting in line for several hours with multiple drive-throughs shut,” he posted on Facebook.

“Reportedly now Prince of Wales hospital is no longer accepting walk-ins as the line is too long.

“This mess was totally foreseeable.”

Cr Parker said that all three of Randwick’s regular drive in clinics were closed on Christmas Day adding stress to ones that remained open as people sought tests for travel and ahead of gatherings.

“There were previously some restrictions on hours of operation for clinics. We’ve said all of those restrictions are gone. If they need to operate seven days a week, on public holidays, if they need to start at six in the morning and run till ten at night they can do that,” he said.

“Locals are doing the right thing and are getting tested – they’re missing Christmas.

“Anyone could have expected that in the lead up to Christmas there’s going to be increased demand for testing.”

A spokesman for Prince of Wales denied that people had been turned away.

“I’ve been told they didn’t turn people away, but the queue’s very long. They halted the queue for a little while because they were taking children to the front, but they haven’t turned people away,” the spokesman said.

People are seen queuing in their cars at the Covid-19 testing site at Bondi Beach. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

Reasons contributing to the demand

Queensland, Tasmania and WA require a negative PCR tests from visitors taken within 72 hours of their arriving from ‘high risk’ or ‘hotspot’ areas.

NSW requires a negative test if travellers are considered ‘casual contacts’.

Soaring case numbers across the nation and tests for close and casual contacts, as well as reduced hours at testing clinics on Christmas Day, are also adding to queues at open clinics.

In Sydney, which recorded 6288 new Covid cases, four long queues were seen at the drive-through testing clinic alongside Bondi Beach, while other Christmas revellers flocked to the beach to celebrate the day.

Royal North Shore Hospital had wait times of about two to three hours before midday.

Staff were seen handing out water to those waiting.

Health professionals work at the COVID-19 testing site at Bondi Beach on Christmas. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

The Covid-19 testing clinic at Millers Point was reportedly about an hour wait in the morning, with times decreasing over the day.

In South Australia, there were about three hour wait times at the Victoria Park testing clinic in the morning, while the drive-through clinic at Ridgehaven only had a few cars waiting before midday.

Current wait time at Sandringham Hospital Covid testing clinic on Xmas morning. pic.twitter.com/dJoJCmTBhf

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In Victoria, some testing sites reached capacity soon after opening including Deakin University’s Burwood testing hub.

At Sandringham Hospital in Victoria there was a four-hour wait time on Christmas morning.

A spokesperson for NSW Health said they were monitoring the demand.

“NSW Health is closely monitoring the demand for testing and has the capacity to extend opening hours, introduce additional drive-through sites and establish extra pop-up clinics should the need arise,” the spokesperson said.

“As at 25 December 2021, pathology services in NSW have performed more than 24 million tests.

“NSW Health thanks the community for their incredible response in coming out for testing, as transmission rates of Covid-19 increase across the state.”