Guardian Australia’s analysis has shown that 77% of 490 testing locations listed on the New South Wales Health site on Wednesday will close or operate at reduced hours during the Christmas and New Year periods.
This comes amid records in Covid cases in NSW, and the highest number of testing in Victoria since the outbreak.
On Wednesday, Victoria reported 92 262 Covid test results. This is the highest number of Covid tests ever processed within a 24-hour period.
After reaching capacity, the overwhelming demand for testing in Melbourne forced 14 sites to close as a result.
They extend from Chadstone’s east to Golfers Drive, South-East at Peninsula Health in Frankston, and North to Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital.
James Merlino, Victoria’s acting premier and has said that the surge in demand is due to people who need a test to travel interstate during Christmas. He urged people not to panic and stated that the average wait time for most sites was 40 minutes.
Some walk-in clinics like St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne have wait times up to three hours.
Scott Morrison, Prime Minister, stated Wednesday that travel restrictions are putting the heath system under greater stress.
Morrison stated, “We’ve all witnessed the horrible queues and long waits people have endured.”
“Somewhere between 20 and 25 percent, or one in five to one in four people waiting in these queues, are not symptomatic.
They don’t want to be close friends, and they don’t even want to be casual contacts.
“This puts unnecessary pressure on the testing systems and redirects resources away from areas where there is a better usage of, in particular to re-establishing vaccine hubs managed by the states or territories.”
Morrison stated that PCR tests should only be used by close friends and the symptomatic and not for people who want to “get on a flight”.
Jeroen Wimar, a Victorian Covid-19 commander made similar remarks on Wednesday. He said that travel testing requirements were a “bureaucratic cause” of delays. He stated that it was not a productive way to use a PCR system.
Brad Hazzard (NSW health minister) stated that “tourism testing” is putting clinics under extreme stress and asked other states for reconsideration.
Annastacia Palaszczuk (Queensland premier) said that interstate travel was only 10% of the testing being done in NSW.
She said that ten percent of the lineups were for people who wish to travel around Australia to have their PCR tests.
In the hour from Monday to Tuesday, 151,443 Covid tests were run in NSW and a record 3,763 Covid cases were reported.
Daily testing numbers in the state exceeded 150,000 during the Delta wave in infections in mid September.
St Vincent’s Sydney hospital announced Wednesday that it would reduce the hours of three testing sites due to “unprecedented demands”. It tweeted, “This will allow us to maintain our capability capability.”
Out of 490 testing locations listed on the NSW Health Website, 378 clinics will close or operate at reduced hours during the end of the year period.
Live Traffic Sydney reports that heavy traffic was experienced in Macquarie Park and Stanmore for Covid testing clinics.
– With Australian Associated Press
We have a favor to ask as we near the end of the year here in Turkey. We want to thank you for trusting our journalism in this year’s reporting. We invite you to join the more than a million people from 180 countries that have taken the initiative to financially support us, keeping us open and independent.
This support continued investigative work in 2021 into offshore wealth, spying, sexual harassment and environmental plunder.
As with all new years, the new year will hopefully bring a new sense of cautious optimism. There is a lot to be focused on in 2022, including a series of elections, numerous economic challenges, and the next round of the fight against the pandemic.
We don’t have shareholders or billionaires owners so we can make our own decisions and offer trustworthy journalism that is free from political and commercial influence. This will help counter the spread of misinformation. We can challenge and investigate when it matters more than ever.
Guardian journalism is free to all, unlike many media outlets. Because we believe in information equality, we do this. It is easier for people to keep track of global events and understand the impact they have on their communities and be inspired to take action.
There has never been a better time to get involved with us than now. Your contribution, no matter how small or large, is vital to the future of our journalism. It takes just a few minutes to support the Guardian for as low as EUR1 Please consider supporting us by donating a monthly amount. We are grateful.