Testing for COVID-19 in Dubbo has been ramped up with a private company introducing a free drive-through clinic at Dubbo RSL Memorial Club in Brisbane Street.
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Laverty Pathology opened the drive-through clinic on Thursday morning with motorists almost immediately pulling into the club's car park for testing.
Some of them had to be turned away for lack of a pathology request form from their GPs. People seeking to be tested must present the form, identification and their Medicare card.
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Laverty Pathology, part of Healius Limited, has joined sister companies in other states in rolling out drive-through clinics "across the country".
Dubbo and Wagga Wagga are newcomers to an extensive network of drive-though clinics in NSW operated by Laverty Pathology.
Its Sydney laboratory is able to process up to 2000 tests daily with plans afoot to boost "that capacity".
General manager Matthew Brumby said drive-through clinics were "by far the easiest, safest and most convenient way" to be tested.
"We are opening these drive-through clinics in response to the federal and state governments' desire for an expansion of COVID-19 testing to make it easier for more people to be tested as lockdown restrictions begin to ease and business and community activity begins to return," he said.
The Dubbo drive-through clinic, open 8am to 12pm from Monday to Friday, requires motorists to stay in their vehicles "at all times" while a collector in "full protective equipment" performs the test.
Test results "generally" are provided to referring doctors within 24 hours of samples reaching the laboratory.
Patients can have their results sent to them via SMS, if they prove to be negative.
People who test positive are contacted by their GPs.
Across the road from the drive-through clinic is the federally-funded GP-led COVID-19 respiratory clinic where patients are not charged for treatment and tests.
It opened on Monday with appointments able to be made by calling Dubbo Medical and Allied Health Group on 68159900 or going to hotdoc.com.au and searching for Dubbo respiratory clinic.
It seeks to treat patients with mild-to-moderate respiratory symptoms and take pressure off GP surgeries and Dubbo Hospital's Emergency Department, which has been running a fever and flu clinic since March.
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