New fever clinic to be established for Discovery Coast residents, visitors
Wide Bay Hospital and Health Service is establishing a new fever clinic in Agnes Water, to respond to a demand for COVID-19 testing among Discovery Coast residents and visitors.
The drive-through clinic will open on Monday, January 25 and will initially operate from 10am-2pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from the Impact Community Health Centre, located at 2 Rafting Ground Rd.
Bookings will be required, and can be made between 9am and 3pm, Monday to Friday, by calling 0474 951 710.
WBHHS Chief Executive Debbie Carroll said the health service was keen to provide more testing options for people in the popular tourist area and boost community safety.
“We know that testing options are currently quite limited in the Discovery Coast region, and that the next most likely testing locations for residents and visitors are Bundaberg or Gladstone,” Ms Carroll said.
“We’re conscious that people with mild symptoms may feel disinclined to travel more than an hour for testing, and we obviously want people with any symptoms consistent with COVID-19 – no matter how mild – to be tested.
“It’s hoped the new clinic will be able to meet the needs of the community and its visitors, whom we understand are still coming to the region in strong numbers even after the school holidays are over.
“Testing remains one of our most effective ways to identify COVID-19 in the community – and the earlier we can identify it, the faster our Public Health team can help contain community spread.”
Ms Carroll said WBHHS would assess the ongoing needs for the clinic over time, and would work with the community on the best possible long-term solution.
“This will be an experiment for us in many ways, so we’ll assess consumer demand and the suitability of our service provision as we go along, and look at the best possible solutions for testing services into the future,” she said.
“We'd like to thank the Impact Community Health Centre and Gladstone Regional Council for working with us to establish the new clinic, to enable better testing access for people in the area.
“We’d also like to thank members of the public who advocated for enhanced testing services for their community, prompting us to put this new service in motion.”
People should be tested for COVID-19 if they have any of the symptoms associated with the virus, including fever, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, runny nose, fatigue, diarrhoea, vomiting/nausea, or loss of smell or taste.
For more information on testing available in Wide Bay, go to WBHHS’s fever clinics web page at https://www.health.qld.gov.au/widebay/fever-clinics.
