Coronavirus: NSW cracks one million tests milestone

One million people have now been tested for coronavirus in New South Wales making it the second state, behind Victoria, to reach the milestone.

New South Wales has now conducted one million tests for COVID-19 since screening for the virus began in January.

The state is believed to have one of the highest coronavirus testing rates in the world, Premier Gladys Berejiklian said before thanking residents for coming forward to be tested.

But the Premier urged it was not over.

“This needs to continue; if you have the mildest of symptoms it is so important you come forward and get tested,” she said.

“If you have already been tested and were negative but develop symptoms again, you need to come forward and get tested again.”

A total of 1,007,662 tests have been completed in the state since testing began, which includes 18,524 during the last 24 hours alone.

 Health Minister Brad Hazzard dubbed workers at the NSW Health Pathology as the pandemic’s “quiet achievers”.

“(They’ve been) working incredibly hard behind the scenes, doing almost 60 per cent of these tests, averaging 7500 a day,” Mr Hazzard said.

NSW has now conducted one million tests for COVID-19 since screening for the virus began in January. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Adam Yip

He said NSW Health Pathology had also received about 290,000 registrations for their “SMS Results Service”, which he claimed had halved the average waiting time for negative results.

However, the virus is likely to be out there in the community and circulating among people who will experience mild symptoms, which is why the risk of an outbreak or resurgence in cases remains, the Health Minister warned.

“While this is a fantastic response from the community, we must keep up the fight against COVID-19 and not allow complacency to set in,” Mr Hazzard said.

Victoria achieved one million tests on Wednesday, with Premier Daniel Andrews an advocate for large-scale testing since the pandemic began.

In April, Mr Andrews launched a testing blitz with the aim to test 100,000 Victorians during a two-week period.

NSW recorded 14 new cases of coronavirus today – 13 are in hotel quarantine and one is from Albury who is linked to the two positive cases announced in the area earlier this week.