The Bay of Plenty District Health Board are asking people seeking Covid-19 tests to head to Baypark amid high demand at a Tauranga testing centre.
Long queues have formed at the First Avenue drive-through Covid-19 testing centre as case numbers rocketed above 2000 over the weekend.
Two Tauranga residents have told SunLive how they were stuck in queues for nearly an hour trying to get tested.
Covid-19 Community Care and Partnership lead Helen De Vere is, therefore, directing people to the Baypark centre on Truman Lane for testing.
'The Bay of Plenty District Health Board continues to work with our community partners and other agencies to manage the demand at testing sites around the Bay of Plenty,” says Helen.
'It is also important to remind people that they do not need to get tested unless they are unwell with cold or flu symptoms, have been identified as a close contact of a case, or have been instructed to do so by health officials.”
The Baypark drive-through site is open from 10am to 3pm, seven days a week and is located at the back of the arena, by the Blokarts.
Other testing sites around the Bay of Plenty and their opening hours, can be found on www.Healthpoint.co.nz.
'We appreciate the community's patience as we navigate growing demand at our testing sites around the Bay of Plenty,” says Helen.
4 comments
RAT test
Posted on 21-02-2022 15:23 | By Johnney
Why don’t they give everyone a RAT test, send them home and tell them to come back if positive. Am I deluded or making sense???
Testing
Posted on 21-02-2022 21:16 | By surfsup
Who in their right mind would have a drive through testing station in the middle of major roadworks in the same part of time. Complete stupidity.
@ Johnney
Posted on 21-02-2022 22:04 | By Yadick
Totally making sense. Bloody great idea in fact. Far from delusional.
@Johnney
Posted on 23-02-2022 14:57 | By morepork
They can't because they don't have enough RAT kits. They only had 2 years to plan and get them and decided that, as they were only around 85% accurate (PCR test is over 95% but takes days to deliver), there was no point in getting them. I was in the queue with the top off my car. I had an appointment booked for a booster shot. A guy came down the line and asked if I was wanting testing. When I explained it was almost appointment time for my booster, he told me to simply bypass the queue and go. (Which I did...) Overall, I'd say they were managing very well, but RAT testing might have prevented a queue altogether.
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to make a comment.