ACT Health promises better Covid test wait time updates

With people queuing up for hours at EPIC and Brindabella Park only to be turned away when facilities reached capacity, ACT Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith had advised residents this week to check social media before leaving home.

Ms Stephen-Smith acknowledged on Wednesday the only update provided the day prior was when facilities were oversubscribed and had shut their doors.

She said ACT Health and Canberra Health Services had now been asked to work together to provide more regular updates about wait times.

"We do know that Canberrans do like to queue and they are very enthusiastic about doing the right thing and complying with public health directions," Ms Stephen-Smith said.

At about 5pm on Wednesday, the wait for a Covid test at the drive-through testing clinic at Brindabella was more than two hours, at EPIC it was more than three hours, Kambah was closed and Weston Creek was one hour, ACT Health reported.

ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr has repeatedly defended the slow pace of testing, claiming it took NSW weeks to get a comparable system in place.

Mr Barr told reporters on Wednesday more than 25,000 tests had been carried out in the ACT since the lockdown began, the equivalent of around six per cent of the ACT population.

Mr Barr said the ACT government had continued to put up additional testing facilities to response to the emerging cases and demand across the city.

The response included reopening the drive-through testing clinic in Kambah on Wednesday and plans for an additional facility to be opened in Canberra's south.

Ms Stephen-Smith said the ACT government had not ruled out moving to 24-hour testing if demand continued at the current rate.

She said keeping staff and residents safe would be a challenge throughout the night given overnight temperatures in Canberra and the fact facilities were usually outdoors or semi exposed.

"We also need to balance all of the challenges across our workforce too, we can't create an entire new workforce to do overnight work," Ms Stephen-Smith said. "We're seeing sites staying open very late into the night to ensure that they can get through the queues as much as it is humanly possible."

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It was revealed on Wednesday that about 400 health staff at Canberra Health Services and Calvary Hospital had gone into quarantine or isolation due to them being at a Covid exposure site.

More than 12,500 people were currently in quarantine in the ACT this week, including 10,500 close contacts of the 67 active cases.

The latest report was that seven public venues had been identified as sites of transmission, with 15 cases linked to Lyneham High School, 13 cases linked to Fiction Bar, six cases linked to the Lennock Jaguar Land Rover dealership, five cases linked to the Belconnen Basketball Centre, five cases linked to the Gold Creek School and two cases linked to the Downer Community Centre.

With demand for testing expected to continue to surge as new exposure sites emerge, health authorities have warned ACT resident not to travel to Yass to be tested.

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