The COVID-19 drive-through testing clinic at Taree Showground is seeing an "unbelievable amount of testing", according to Greg Granger, director of operations for Histopath, the company running the clinic. So much so that the clinic ran out of tests on Tuesday, November 16, meaning the clinic was shut for two hours until 2pm when more kits were delivered from Newcastle.
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With cases in the MidCoast LGA now rising and becoming a trend instead of a surge, and more schools across the region closing every day due to positive cases, more and more people are being tested, with Histopath alone reporting 2000 tests being taken over one and a half days.
"Regions are fighting battle fronts that haven't been fought in these areas before," Mr Granger said.
Histopath runs 70 testing clinics throughout NSW, and right now, the Taree clinic is "number one", Mr Granger says, with the Hunter New England Local Health District (HNELHD) consistently recording the highest number of cases per health district every day, and the MidCoast LGA sitting on the top of the list of most cases per LGA in HNELHD.
As well as increasing the number of testing kits available to the Taree clinic, Histopath is also increasing the number of nurses and pathology collectors doing the testing, and assures that all employees are fully trained and wearing full PPE.
As well as dealing with far more people being tested, the Taree drive-through clinic now has another challenge to face - they have to move from Taree Showground.
As yet, they have not found a suitable location but MidCoast Council are assisting them in the search, and Histopath anticipates a new location will be in place by the weekend.
In Taree, testing is available at:
- Taree Douglass Hanly Moir Pathology Walk-In Clinic from 8:00am to 4:00pm Monday to Friday
- Taree Respiratory Clinic from 8:00am to 4:00pm daily
- Taree Showground Histopath Pathology Drive-through Clinic from 8:00am to 4:00pm daily
