From November 2 the opening hours at Bendigo Health testing sites will differ due to 'lower demand'.
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The two sites - the Showgrounds and McLaren Street - will be open from 10am to 5.30pm each day.
This comes after 11 people tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday and five schools were closed due to exposures.
Bendigo Health said they will monitor demand and change hours if required.
Earlier
As the state began re-opening in October exposure sites continued to rise in the region.
In response to this increased demand for testing Bendigo Health urged residents to think before getting a COVID-19 test.
Over the past few days, Bendigo Health has reached its testing capacity, testing over 800 people a day.
Bendigo Health chief executive Peter Faulkner said sites across the region had been extremely busy over the past week.
Mr Faulkner said there were many people trying to get tested who didn't necessarily have to.
Who should get tested?
Under the chief health officer guidelines, you should only get tested if the following apply to you:
- You have a fever, have an acute respiratory infection (e.g., cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, runny nose, or loss or changes in sense of smell or taste)
- You are a close contact of a a confirmed case of COVID-19 or have been to a tier one site during the exposure time period
- If you have returned from overseas in the past 14 days.
Mr Faulkner said there had been a number of schools closed due to COVID-19-positive students.
He said unless your child had been identified as a primary close contact or has symptoms, they did not require a COVID-19 test.
"If people are concerned because their child goes to a school that has been closed because of a case or if you visited a venue outside an exposure time then you should really just be monitoring your symptoms instead of getting tested immediately," he said.
"We are not overwhelmed and we will contact people if they need to be tested."
Mr Faulkner said the rules were changing as the state begins to re-open.
"The rules that applied a year ago are changing and I want to encourage people that if they are contacted by us, they will get clear instructions on what to do," he said.
"There will be lots of exposure sites and the tier one sites are published by the state and if you were at those sites during those exposure times then get tested.
"We will be all exposed to someone who has tested positive or had been to exposure sites once we open up in a couple of weeks. This is about opening up the community and not closing it down."
Where can I get tested?
The Showgrounds testing site (drive-through with walk-in capacity) will be open from 8.30am to 5.30pm for priority testing for close contacts who have been asked to be tested by the Public Health Unit or the Department of Health.
Testing for healthcare workers, truck drives and pre-operations will also be conducted.
McLaren St (walk-in and drive-through) will be open from 8.30am to 5.30pm for symptomatic people, people who have visited tier one or tier two exposure sites or those who have been contacted by businesses or a positive case.
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