Covid-19: Long queues at Auckland test centers after community cases

Long lines of cars formed at a Covid-19 testing station in Auckland’s Northcote, the day after a community case of the virus was detected in Devonport on Tuesday.

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“> in an Alert Level 4 lockdown. Six other community cases were reported on Wednesday, including a health worker at Auckland City Hospital.

Auckland City Hospital nurse Tiffany Alodia was one of those waiting at the Northcote test center and said she was frustrated that workers were not given priority of health.

She had hoped she would be allowed in and take a test, but was turned back and asked to queue in her vehicle.

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Alodia said she woke up with Covid-like symptoms and her boss told her to get tested before a scheduled shift on Wednesday night.

Alodia said she expects staff to be strained as many of her colleagues are self-isolating at home, awaiting test results.

She said priority testing should be given to nurses.

Auckland and the Coromandel Peninsula will be at level 4 for seven days. The rest of the country will be at level 4 for at least three days.

The Northcote test station was packed Wednesday morning and a long line of cars started to form about an hour before it opened at 8:30 a.m.

While test staff dressed in full PPE gear arrived at 8:30 a.m., swabbing did not begin until 9:30 a.m., a Thing reporter at the scene observed.

The queue at Northcote was about a mile long, with cars filling College Rd, Exmouth Rd, and Lake Rd.

By lunchtime, some had waited four hours to get tested.

Thing spoke to several people in the queue who were fully vaccinated but wanted to be tested because the Delta variant was in the community.

Among them was Marian Kleist, a resident of Chatswood and her partner. Kleist said she was happy to see many people taking him seriously and getting tested.

Penny Elliot is also fully vaccinated but came to be tested when she woke up with a sore throat.

She said she knew she was less likely to get seriously ill if she caught Covid, but said she was here so she could protect the three family members who are not yet vaccinated.

Meanwhile, there were also long lines at a test site in Narrow Neck, Devonport and south Auckland at the ÅŒtara test site, with around 80 cars in a line.

Registered nurse Cherry Elisaia said since 8 a.m. they had done 200 swabs and she expected this to continue for the rest of the day.

The mood was light, she said. People knew what to expect from the last time and were patient.

Traffic manager Austin Malietoa-Brown agreed everyone was more patient and less nervous this time around.

South Seas Clinical Director Tagaloa Dr Andrew Chan Mow said on Tuesday that between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. they had to do 100 swabs.

People were lining up on Wednesday morning from 7 a.m., but they didn’t start stamping until 8 a.m.

The Devonport man, the first community case in six months, tested positive for the Delta variant after going to a general practitioner on Monday with symptoms. No link with the border or managed isolation has yet been established.

The man, who is not yet vaccinated, traveled this weekend to the Coromandel Peninsula, where he visited, among others, a hotel, cafe, jewelry store and gas station.

It has been considered contagious since August 12.

His wife, who is fully vaccinated, has tested negative for the virus twice.