Travel rules from other states forcing Victorians to receive a COVID-19 test before crossing the border will continue to clog queues despite calls for change. covid19 travel testing
People intending to holiday interstate will continue to clog Melbourne’s testing queues over the Christmas period despite Victorian COVID-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar’s plea for states like South Australia and Queensland to relax testing requirements.
The stress those rules have placed on the testing capacity of Victoria and NSW prompted a “constructive discussion” at national cabinet on Wednesday andQueues for COVID-19 testing snaked around the corner in Collingwood on Wednesday morning.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the state was awaiting further advice on whether rapid antigen tests could be used for travel from January 1, but that pre-testing requirements were necessary to protect Queenslanders from the virus. Victoria recorded 1503 new COVID-19 infections on Wednesday and six deaths from the disease. The total number of Omicron cases in the state reached 61 and a total of 394 people were in hospital with COVID-19.Mr Weimar said he hoped fewer people would clog up the state’s testing system for “bureaucratic reasons” after a record 92,262 tests were processed on Tuesday.
Prominent epidemiologist Tony Blakely, from the University of Melbourne, said a rapid antigen test in the 24 hours before travel would be more useful than a PCR test three days earlier. Mr Weimar also urged Victorians to use rapid antigen tests proactively when they were asymptomatic before attending events, for example, but that there was capacity to test a few thousand more people a day before they were overwhelmed.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Further restrictions for QLD as state records huge spike in COVID-19 casesQueensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk extends mask mandate after the state recorded an alarming surge in COVID-19 case numbers.
Read more »
Victoria records 1,245 COVID-19 cases, six deaths as testing centres again overwhelmedThe state's seven-day average for hospitalisations has steadily increased over the past fortnight, from 296 on December 7 to 387 today.
Read more »
SA records 198 new COVID-19 cases amid concerns about exposure site delaysSouth Australia has recorded 198 new cases of COVID-19 — another daily record for the state.
Read more »
As England mulls over COVID-19 restrictions, neighbouring countries are ramping them upUK Prime Minister Boris Johnson says there won't be any new COVID-19 restrictions in England before Christmas, but other countries in Europe have announced measures to try to combat the Omicron strain.
Read more »
NSW reports record 3057 new COVID-19 casesYOUR SAY: Should a mask mandate be reintroduced for indoor settings in NSW? Yesterday, Premier Dominic Perrottet insisted that his government is treating residents 'like adults' and leaving the decision to wear masks in their hands. DETAILS: 9News
Read more »