Victoria’s efforts to detect and contain a resurgence of coronavirus cases hit a major snag on Monday as people seeking to get tested were forced to wait up to three hours or turned away altogether.
Only hours after the state government announced a new testing blitz and crackdown on people flouting lockdown laws, images of enormous lines at drive-in testing facilities emerged at most of Melbourne’s major suburban shopping centres.
Victoria has become a focal point of concern for national authorities after six days when cases have grown by double digits, and the government has now identified six local government areas as “hotspots” for community transmission.
The news prompted a surge in demand for testing, which led to bumper-to-bumper traffic at suburban testing centres. Some were reportedly forced to shut temporarily after they were swarmed by local residents.
Callers to talkback radio reported being turned away from the drive-through testing facility at Northland shopping centre, where four cases have emerged at the centre’s H&M store, while people were also reportedly turned away further north in Epping.
Meanwhile in the city’s south, cars also faced long delays at Chadstone and at Southland, in Cheltenham, where traffic piled up along the Nepean Highway, and long queues were also reported at Highpoint shopping centre in Melbourne’s west.
The Victorian health minister, Jenny Mikakos, said on Monday the government was stepping up testing in the so-called hotspot local government areas where Covid clusters have emerged and would establish pop-up facilities in these suburbs.
The areas are Moreland and Darebin to the north and north-east of the city, Hume in the outer north and north-west, Casey and Cardinia in the outer south-east and Brimbank in the west.
“We will be heavily promoting the locations of these additional testing sites as well as the original ones in all of these hotspot LGAs,” Mikakos said.
“But I do want to emphasise to the community broadly that, as we do have community transmission still in Victoria, people should get tested even if they have very, very mild symptoms.”
Cars are banked up for more than a kilometre along the Nepean Highway in Cheltenham as Melburnians get tested for Covid-19 at Southland.
— Nine News Melbourne (@9NewsMelb) June 22, 2020
There is also a large queue of cars outside Northland. This comes as the state becomes a #coronavirus hotspot in Australia. #9News pic.twitter.com/uL1HkyQ2Zx
Mikakos said a team of 50 officials would go door-to-door in these areas to enforce the rules and she did not rule out tightening restrictions in specific locations.
Thomas, who did not want his surname published, said he was turned away from the testing facility at Epping and then told it would be a three-hour wait to be tested at Northland.
“I went to Epping first,” he said. “There were a couple of security guards at the front with what looked like handwritten signs saying, ‘Testing is closed’.”
Thomas said he was feeling fatigued and had a sore throat but was “fed up” with the three-hour wait at Northland.
“I’m trying to do what they say and follow the guidelines, but it’s incredibly difficult,” he said. “It can’t be good to have all these sick people driving around town trying to find a site.”
He said the next closest facility was at Chadstone, on the other side of the city.
At Chadstone on Monday, the line of cars for the testing site on level 2 of carpark C was backed almost to Warrigal Road.
Security guards in high-vis vests – some not wearing face masks – waved the cars into two lines, to be interviewed by public health staff and then spoken to by a doctor.
Drivers were asked to remain in their cars at all times and keep the windows wound up unless being spoken to by health staff.
Those who were tested were told to self-isolate until they received a text, indicating a negative result, or a phone call, to inform them of a positive result. The average wait time is one to three days.
Victoria recorded 16 new infections on Monday, taking the current total of active cases to 125.
The new cases recorded on Monday included six linked to known outbreaks, five spotted through routine testing. Four were from returned travellers and authorities are still investigating one case.
There are now three cases at Albanvale Primary School in Caroline Springs in Melbourne’s west, while a childcare centre in Reservoir has also been closed for cleaning after a child tested positive.
Of four cases at the H&M store at Northland, one person is a household contact of a staff member, while another was not working while infectious.
The person attended the Black Lives Matter protest in Melbourne earlier in the month, but authorities do not believe they acquired the infection at the rally.
