Victorian health authorities are calling in staff to ramp up coronavirus testing capacity this weekend, after sites were overwhelmed by a wave of returned travellers from New South Wales.
Key points:
- Thousands of people arriving in Victoria from New South Wales were required to get tested immediately
- Many people experienced hours-long waits to be tested and some were turned away or redirected to other sites
- More testing sites will be set up over the weekend
People turning up at several Melbourne drive-through testing sites were turned away on Friday, prompting the Government to establish more pop-up testing locations in high-demand suburbs.
Victorians in New South Wales raced to beat the hard border closure that came into effect overnight, as the coronavirus cluster linked to a Melbourne restaurant rose to 10 cases.
At the stroke of midnight, police vehicles joined the ends of queues at each border checkpoint to mark the midnight closure.
Travellers were told earlier on Friday they would need to be in line before 11:59pm in order to make it home.
Returned Melburnian Chris Gibbs, who had been in Wollongong visiting family over Christmas, said he went out to get tested mid-morning and was turned away from centres at West Footscray and Ascot Vale.
At the third clinic in Sunshine, he said he was told he could wait there to see if he could make it before the testing site closed.
"I was there for about three-and-a-bit hours … half an hour before I left they'd cut people off and said 'we're just not going to fit you in'," he said.
He said the testing went smoothly and the staff at the site were doing a "fantastic job" in full personal protective equipment (PPE) on a hot day.
While Mr Gibbs knew people in his situation were legally compelled to get a test within 24 hours of arriving in Victoria, he was uneasy seeing people giving up on the hours-long testing queues.
"The people who have to get tested are those who are told, 'you have to get tested within 24 hours' under threat of a fine or, you know, the implied threat of a fine anyway," he said.
"You know, if I saw a car turn out, I go, 'I hope that's not someone who's got symptoms and just says I can't be bothered waiting because there's so many people'."
On Friday, health officials thanked Victorians for their patience and apologised for the lengthy delays while more testing sites were being set up.
The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is regularly updating the list of sites on its website, which also includes estimated waiting times.
But some people reported gaps in information on the website, leading to an uneven distribution of people presenting for testing across the sites.
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"Several testing sites were left off despite being asked by DHHS to open, hence they have had very few people come through while heaps of clinics were closing due to overwhelming numbers," Melbourne general practitioner Catherine Orr said in a social media post.
Victorian border shuts to New South Wales overnight
Victoria has put up a hard border to New South Wales, with authorities warning on Friday there would be few exemptions to the closure and most people would simply be turned away at the border.
On Friday, DHHS COVID-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar said the option of mandatory hotel quarantine would only be offered to Victorians in exceptional circumstances.
"Anyone who tries to enter Victoria after 11:59pm tonight [Friday], who does not have an exemption to enter, will be turned away and will need to find alternative accommodation in New South Wales," authorities said in a statement on Friday afternoon.
Exemptions will be available for travellers heading to Victoria from a separate state like Queensland or the ACT who solely travelled through NSW to reach Victoria.
Border communities will also be exempt from the closure.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiZmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIxLTAxLTAyL3ZpY3Rvcmlhbi1jb3JvbmF2aXJ1cy1vdXRicmVhay10ZXN0aW5nLXNpdGVzLW1lbGJvdXJuZS8xMzAyNjYwNtIBJ2h0dHBzOi8vYW1wLmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvYXJ0aWNsZS8xMzAyNjYwNg?oc=5
2021-01-01 19:29:00Z
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