Frustrated residents on the Northern Beaches have vented about long queues at testing sites and being turned away at the last minute.
Residents in suburbs including Manly, Allambie Heights and the North Shore suburb of Lindfield reported being sent home while waiting at testing clinics.
Northern Beaches resident Helen Eavis said she was queuing for more than three hours to get tested at a drive-in pop-up clinic at the Aquatic Centre in Allambie Heights on Friday night.
She told SBS News she joined the queue at 6.30pm, and waited for more than three and a half hours.
When she was just five cars from the testing site, she was informed they would be stopping for the night.
“The stupid thing is they didn’t stop the line of cars,” she said. “At half past eight they stopped people queuing on the street. You’d think someone would walk along the cars and say, ‘Sorry, we’re closing’.”
Others took to social media to note they had been waiting for hours, though some acknowledged it was a positive sign that so many people were coming out to get tested.
At a Saturday morning press conference, NSW health authorities thanked Northern Beaches residents who have come forward to get tested.
“It is important and essential we have high testing rates across the state, not only focused on the Northern Beaches, but thank you very much to the Northern Beaches community who have come out and supported the public health response in such great numbers over the recent days,” said chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant.
“Across the board, if we could maintain those high rates of testing, that would allow us to detect any unrecognised chains of transmission.”
It comes as the Northern Beaches cluster has grown by 13 cases since yesterday to 41, with Premier Gladys Berejiklian announcing new restrictions for the local area.
Ms Berejiklian said there were 23 new cases in the 24 hours to 8pm on Friday night, including 10 cases that were reported yesterday.
The Premier said Northern Beaches residents will be asked to stay home unless leaving for one of four essential reasons: grocery shopping, work, compassionate grounds including emergency medical treatment, or visiting an isolated relative.
“Essentially, we will be going back to the restrictions that were in place back in March, just for the local government area of the Northern Beaches,” she said.
The area will be locked down from 5pm on Saturday until midnight on Wednesday.
SBS News has contacted NSW Health for comment.
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If you are experiencing cold or flu symptoms, stay home and arrange a test by calling your doctor or contact the Coronavirus Health Information Hotline on 1800 020 080.
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