Cars queue for COVID testing at Yass’s Walker Park in September when the clinic was last open in the town. Photo: Supplied.
With 39 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Yass Valley in the past 24 hours, and a public outcry over the absence of testing facilities, a pop-up clinic reopened in the town today (1 January).
The first of two pop-up drive-through clinics opened at 9 am today at Walker Park Sporting Complex in Merriman Drive, Yass, from 9 am to 2 pm. The clinic will also be open tomorrow from 9 am to 2 pm.
The clinics will be operated by the Southern NSW Local Health District (SNSWLHD).
A total of 203 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed in southern NSW today by SNSWLHD. Yesterday, NSW Health reported 159 new cases in the region.
Of the 203 cases, 28 are in the Bega Valley Local Government Area, three are in the Eurobodalla, 36 are in Goulburn Mulwaree, 65 are in Queanbeyan Palerang, 19 are in the Snowy Monaro, 13 are in the Upper Lachlan and 39 are in Yass.
There are 674 active cases in the region and two people are in hospital. Four people have died from the virus in the region since June 2021.
Earlier today, NSW Health reported 22,577 cases to 8 pm last night.
Member for Goulburn Wendy Tuckerman thanked the SNSWLHD teams for responding to the Yass community’s call so quickly. She also thanked the staff who had agreed to run the clinics on weekends and public holidays.
An SNSWLHD spokesperson said close contacts or symptomatic people would take priority at the Yass clinics.
From next week, Capital Pathology will reopen its weekly testing clinic in Yass, running on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The location and times for this clinic will be confirmed.
Calls for the Yass testing clinics to reopen have grown louder over recent weeks as the number of positive cases rose.
Social media has reported people driving to Goulburn from Yass to get tested, or into Canberra, despite ACT testing sites frequently operating at capacity.
One chemist in Yass advertised yesterday it had stocks of the Rapid Antigen Test kit but had sold out by the end of the day.
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