A surge in demand driven by eased restrictions, pre-travel requirements and increased notifications for testing resulted in daily swabs hitting a record 88,000 on Friday, leading to calls for more pop-up sites before families embark on holidays.The high demand comes as Victorians plan to fly interstate to see family and friends for Christmas – something that requires a negative Covid-19 test result.Wait times at Covid testing sites across Melbourne already started to balloon on Sunday morning. Melburnians queuing for a swab at St Vincent’s Hospital can expect to wait three hours, while those at The Royal Children’s Hospital are facing a 2½-hour wait, according to the government’s Covid testing website.The Alfred hospital hit capacity before 9.30am and is no longer accepting walk-ins. As of 9.30am, the wait time was one hour at Monash University in Clayton, Central Bayside Community Health Services in Cheltenham, Monash Health in Dandenong, Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital, Golfers Drive in Chadstone and Montague St in South Melbourne. However, the estimated wait time at many testing sites across Melbourne reads “not available”, hindering the ability to avoid long queues. While 265 Victorian testing clinics are listed on the website but around 100 will not open until Monday morning, while a handful of others will close early on Sunday. The 4Cyte Pathology testing clinic on Bourke St has also reportedly closed from 8am due to fears protesters, who may descend on the CBD on Sunday, will clash with those waiting in line. Anyone planning on getting tested is advised to sort the list of testing sites by “shortest wait time”. It comes the day after thousands of Victorians braved summer heat to head to a test site on Saturday, only to find some major clinics had shut once capacity was met by late morning.By lunchtime, The Alfred hospital, Monash Health in Dandenong, Heidelberg Repatriation Centre and sports centre Springers in Keysborough had put up the “full” sign – while waiting times ballooned out to three hours at other centres before they, too, closed.Several clinics across Melbourne were fully booked on Saturday, with some centres not taking appointments for days.In the city, CBD Doctors Melbourne was fully booked until Monday and it was a similar case for other testing clinics across Melbourne.Altona North Respiratory Clinic, Port Melbourne Respiratory Clinic and Coolaroo Respiratory Clinic were fully booked until Monday.In Melbourne’s north, Covid-19 testing appointments at Thomastown Respiratory Clinic were unavailable until 11.30am on Wednesday. Federal Liberal MP for Goldstein Tim Wilson said: “It is disappointing many families will pay at Christmas from the Victorian government’s failure to fully prepare for the expected surge in testing resulting from opening up.” But the Department of Health said despite record demand, the system had been expanded by 55 per cent since October, with afternoon wait times generally shorter. There are now 260 testing sites across the state.Elizabeth Moyle and her husband said they were left stranded in a queue on Saturday morning after a drive-through test facility in Werribee closed due to the heat. “I understand there may be health and safety issues but we are going into summer. How on earth are we going to get tested on days hotter than this?” she said. “We are now isolating and we will go back first thing in the morning.”A rise in COVID-19 infections in the United States has led to an increase in hospitalisations and a wave of disruptions to holiday plans. President Joe Biden has warned unvaccinated Americans of a hard winter ahead. The Omicron variant of the virus has been detected in at least 40 states as well as Washington DC and Puerto Rico. Parents also voiced frustration at a lack of options for young children. Stephanie Ng said she recently took her toddler to get tested at The Alfred clinic and was told priority access for infants had been suspended and there would be a four-hour wait.“It was a shock because it used to be priority access and a pain-free experience,” she said. “It’s definitely a disincentive to get children tested because they often have colds from childcare and do not have the patience to wait four hours.” Another patient, who did not want to be identified, said she waited more than three hours for a test despite “shopping around” for hubs.“Testing should be as simple as getting petrol. The government needs to offer this basic health service within a reasonable time,” she said.Associate principal research fellow at Burnet Institute Michael Toole said changes may be needed in coming weeks because Victorian cases were expected to rise in line with NSW, owing to Omicron.“We don’t want to dissuade people from getting tested by waiting in queues for hours,” he said.“We need to open more of those pop-up test sites to make it more convenient for people. With schools closing for holidays, perhaps they could begin testing there and prioritise children.” Prof Toole said NSW had seen more than 137,000 tests recently, and Victoria should be aiming to get to 100,000.
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