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LAWRENCE SMITH / Things
Long lines form at the Marsden Point Covid-19 test station following news of a new community shutdown in Northland.
This story was originally published on RNZ.co.nz and republished with permission.
Some people in Northland had to wait more than seven hours to get tested for Covid-19 today, describing the process as “chaos.”
Additional testing facilities were established in the region after a woman who had left administered isolation at the Pullman Hotel tested positive for the virus and traveled through parts of Northland and visited around 30 businesses for nine days without knowing she had Covid- 19.
Thousands of people flocked to test stations across the region, with additional stations in Helensville and Mangawhai to meet demand.
READ MORE:
* Covid-19: ‘Be patient,’ said those in long lines at Northland test stations
* Covid-19: the case of the Northland community is the highly contagious South African variant
* Covid-19: Where to get tested for coronavirus in Northland and Auckland
* Covid-19: Northland community ‘frustrated’ by new coronavirus case
When a Whangārei test station reached full capacity, staff sent people to another smear center on the other side of town, only to sit in cars for hours without knowing when they would be seen.
It has generated calls to improve communications and resources for the north, where tensions are mounting.
“I thought it would have been more organized. I knew there would be a wait, but I thought it would be more organized, there would have been more people here to help, but it’s just chaos,” Whangārei woman Janene said Control.
She was one of the first to arrive at the test center on Monday morning. He had been in one of the same places as the woman with the new Covid-19 case in the community.
“Someone has to be down here to tell people what’s going on and something needs to be done, because if I’m here until 4:00 PM or 6:00 PM And my exam doesn’t end until I won’t be back at work tomorrow until Thursday.
LAWRENCE SMITH / Things
People who waited said that at one point there was only one nurse for the hundreds waiting to be examined.
“They knew this was happening yesterday, they put it on the news at 4 o’clock … They’ve had at least two or three hours to fix something for sure.”
Lindsay Dunn is among those who waited in the 26 ° C heat, but saw many others who didn’t.
“My simple opinion is that if people go away and are asked to do this again, they just won’t do it. I get it, it’s a tough time, but heck, this is not new to DHB. They should, I think, be better prepared than this. “
Whangārei was not its first port of call for a test on Monday, as test stations throughout the region were filled. He had been rejected before from the testing center in Kamo.
Four members of the medical staff conducted tests and collected details of the people who lined up at the central Whangārei testing facility on Monday when Control visited. People who waited said that at one point there was only one nurse for the hundreds waiting to be examined.
“Poor bastards who have [been] Caught with your pants down, right? Alex Morgan said.
“They don’t have enough people, but that’s not their fault. That’s how it is, and we have to accept it.”
Contact tracing of the Northland community case has identified 15 people as close contacts. People lined up for tests they spoke to Control described connections of some kind.
Northland DHB was not available for an interview, but said in a statement that community testing had been expanded in response to public demand. An additional center was established in Helensville, Tāmaki Makaurau, and Mangawhai.
The woman was confirmed to have the most infectious South African strain of the virus, which exactly matched another returnee who was on the same floor of the Pullman Hotel as her.
He contracted Covid-19 after testing negative twice during his stay at the Pullman Hotel.
Health authorities are reviewing CCTV footage to determine how Covid-19 was transmitted between two returnees in controlled isolation.
This story was originally published on RNZ.co.nz and republished with permission.
