The Albury Wodonga Health drive-through testing clinic has been overwhelmed by people returning from orange zones, despite instructions to return home and then be tested.
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Traffic controllers had to be called in today to direct drivers seeking to be tested at the Vermont Street clinic.
A steady line of 40 to 50 cars snaked around the Wodonga Bulldogs carpark and those arriving at 3pm were being told of a four-hour wait.
This is despite Victorian Testing Commander Jeroen Weimar urging returning Victorians to get home in the first instance.
"My message to anybody returning from an orange zone is go home, isolate and test at your nearest testing station," he said.
"Please don't test interstate - it takes us a long time to get those results.
"We have lots of testing capacity here in Victoria; we'd ask you to come home - you don't need to stop at the very first testing station as you cross the border.
"Ninety-five per cent of our tests are returning within 24 hours."
A spokeswoman said Albury Wodonga Health's clinic was experiencing delays due to significant increased demand.
"Wait times are in excess of two hours," she said.
"If you are travelling through Albury Wodonga to another destination which has a testing clinic, please help ease local demand by getting tested there.
Other local testing providers:
- Dorevitch Pathology (13 39 36), Lavington Hall - Corner Urana Road and Hague Street
- Douglass Hanly Moir Pathology (1800 026 622) - KD Watson Hall, Albury Showground (entry via Fallon Street)
- Central Medical Group (02 60 672 437) - 228 Beechworth Road, Wodonga
"If you are presenting at the clinic, please be prepared for a long wait - we thank you for your understanding and patience.
"The COVID Clinic has extended operating hours until 5pm today and tomorrow to help meet current testing demands."
On Friday, 168 tests were done and 97 were done on Saturday.
Outside of the border region bubble, which remains green, all of NSW is an orange zone except for the red zones in and around Sydney.
Those with orange permits under the travel system must get a COVID-19 test within 72 hours of arrival and isolate until they get a negative result.
Mr Weimar said the green zone allocation, which allows border residents to travel freely without a permit, did recognise the extent border communities had been inconvenienced in the past.
"Absolutely ... and my thanks to to everybody in the border communities for their support, and certainly to colleagues in VicPol for the really sensitive way they're doing a very robust enforcement, particularly of the red zone requirement around Sydney," he said.
"We've learned a lot from our various activities on the border over the last eight, nine months or so.
"The view we've taken at the moment is that all the exposure sites are still, as far as we're aware, within the Greater Sydney area.
"We've not yet confirmed any positive cases in regional New South Wales.
"At this point in time, we're confident that it is appropriate to have a an orange zone designation for regional New South Wales ... but we obviously wanted to sustain as much movement for border communities as we can."
Mr Weimar said changing the border zone from green would be up to the Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton.
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