NSW residents queue all day to get tested

As the Avalon cluster continues to grow health workers at testing clinics across Sydney have been met by a record turnout of people looking to get tested.

Sydneysiders turn out in droves to get Covid-19 tests with queues at the St Vincent's clinic on Burton St in Darlinghurst stretching around several streets. Picture: Toby Zerna

A surge in people in NSW looking to get COVID-19 tests has stretched the state’s health system, with people waiting hours and some even being turned away from clinics.

As the Avalon cluster continued to balloon, health workers at testing clinics were met by a record turnout of people looking to get tested, with more than 65,000 tests — 28,210 on Saturday and 38,572 on Sunday — conducted over the weekend.

However, the result was massive waiting times at many clinics, with people reporting queueing for five hours at Bondi’s drive-through clinic, four hours in Mascot and more than eight hours in Manly.

In Bondi, Jack Mangos, 22, called around to several different testing clinics after he was notified he had been in direct contact with someone who had been ­infectious. He said he’d already been waiting at the drive-through clinic for two hours as he approached the front of the queue. “It’s been a while, but I’m happy to wait — it’s for a good reason,” Mr Mangos said.

Perched across the road, D bowls employee Wanita said the line for the Bondi clinic had been “insane” since Friday, with queues of cars snaking up to North Bondi from the time the clinic opened until it closed.

An employee at the testing clinic who asked to remain unnamed said people had generally been waiting for about fours to get tested, with the line on Monday afternoon the shortest she had seen it all weekend.

In the northern beaches, residents turned out in droves to get tested. Manly local Natalie Coulson said she waited More than five hours at Manly Hospital, while her neighbour had queued for seven hours.

Many took to social media to vent their frustration. “We gave up on Covid testing yesterday – lines at @manlyhospital were 6-7 hrs long. Got in line at 6am this morn & waiting for them to open at 9am. Huge line behind us! We need more testing clinics,” Sasha Fagan tweeted.

In response to the pressure on testing clinics, NSW Health said: “We have opened more than 10 additional pop-up clinics on the northern beaches.”