Last day for public COVID testing

IN JULY 2021, when there were fewer than 200 active cases of COVID-19 in Victoria, testing stations started popping up all over the place.

Who could forget, for example, the hoo-ha that erupted over the traffic controller at the Moonee Valley Racecourse site who tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday, July 28, forcing the centre to shutdown not long after it opened and a major investigation to be initiated.

Wonthaggi was among the first towns in regional Victoria to get both a testing station and public vaccination services, and everyone will well remember lines snaking out, away from these centres, forcing their early closure on many days.

Now, on Friday, December 30, 2022 with, officially at least, 21,111 active cases in Victoria, all of the state’s COVID testing centres and mobile services are closing including the ones at the new Wonthaggi Hospital and the Phillip Island Health Hub.

* Wonthaggi Friday, December 30 9am-1pm at the new Wonthaggi Hospital, 235 Graham Street. PCR tests and Rapid Antigen Tests will be available for eligible people. Monash Pathology is operating the service in Triage Room 2 in the Emergency Department. Come to the dedicated Emergency Department entry and present to the ward clerk. For PCR tests and RATs, you must bring photo ID with date of birth and/or a Medicare card. Please pre-register for PCR testing and RAT distribution online here: https://testtracker.covid19.dhhs.vic.gov.au/citizen-prefill

* Cowes Friday, December 30 12.30pm-3.30pm at Phillip Island Health Hub, 50 Church Street, Cowes. New testing criteria for PCR tests from 1 July 2022. PCR tests and Rapid Antigen Tests are available for eligible people, namely people with COVID symptoms and close contacts. Please attend the Hub to be assessed by Monash Pathology staff. PCR and rapid tests are also available.

All other publicly funded testing centres in South Gippsland and Bass Coast have already closed. The GRPHU mobile service will also cease on December 30.

Free Rapid Antigen Tests will be available at Bass Coast Shire Council's Customer Service Centres at Wonthaggi, Grantville and Cowes, and Visitor Information Centres at Newhaven and Inverloch.

Free Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs) are also available at these locations in South Gippsland:

· South Gippsland Shire Council Reception, 9 Smith St, Leongatha.

· Foster Library, 9 Main St, Foster

· Poowong Library, 18 Ranceby Rd, Poowong

· Mirboo North Library, 2 Brennan St, Mirboo North

· Korumburra Library, 165 Commercial St, Korumburra

· Leongatha Library, 2 Smith St, Leongatha

RATs are also available at supermarkets, pharmacies and other retailers.

If you want to get vaccinated go to the Victorian Health Department website for vaccination advice and booking on: https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/get-vaccinated

BCH CEO Jan Child said the closure of the PCR testing service was the end of an era in the pandemic locally.

“We can all remember back to this time last year when queues for PCR testing at the former Wonthaggi Secondary College site were long, as PCR testing was the only option for COVID testing at that stage,” she said.

“Our staff worked long, hard hours in personal protective equipment in hot conditions to help minimise the impact of the COVID pandemic locally, helping to detect COVID before infected people moved within our community, unaware they were spreading the virus.

“By the time our BCH COVID testing teams concluded in May this year, they had conducted 68,554 COVID-19 tests at Wonthaggi, Cowes and pop-up sites at Bass and San Remo.

“Now we have Rapid Antigen Tests and these tests are the prime method of testing people with COVID symptoms.”

From January 1, 2023, if you need a PCR test, you will need to visit a GP respiratory clinic or have a GP referral to a private pathology provider.