Albury Wodonga Health's drive-through COVID test site at Gateway Lakes will open an hour earlier on Tuesday in a bid to maximise its operation.
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The adjustment to a 6.30am start comes as the site was again overwhelmed on Monday and had reached capacity at 8.50am.
The health and safety of staff working long hours in PPE and the public queueing in cars was a major factor.
Director of public health Lucie Shanahan said the site needed to be closed to avoid the hottest part of the day.
"We have in place multiple strategies to mitigate the heat to enable testing to continue for as long as it is safe to do so," she said.
"We are closely monitoring our staff's workload and fatigue. Community support for our workers continues to be strong and this is much appreciated by these staff, who have worked long hours in difficult conditions."
Some relief is on the way on Tuesday with the walk-in clinic on Smythe Street to reopen after it was closed from Christmas Day.
"We hope this will help ease demand," Ms Shanahan said.
"We have worked closely with Murrumbidgee Local Health District with a collaborative cross-border approach to divert people where possible to clinics with lower demand and will continue to do this.
"Many areas, including the Albury Wodonga Public Health Unit catchment, are experiencing higher COVID-19 numbers. We anticipated this as the states opened up to travel."
IN OTHER NEWS:
NSW Health confirmed 205 of the state's more than 20,000 new cases were MLHD residents. The region's previous daily high was set at the weekend, with 201 detections declared on Sunday.
On the Victorian side of the border, Moira Shire doubled from 18 cases on Sunday to 36 on Monday, five new cases of COVID were recorded in Wodonga, five in Indigo, five in Benalla, six in Wangaratta, four in Alpine and one in Towong Shire.
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