General News
2 April, 2022
COVID-19 Testing clinic at the Showgrounds closes
THE Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service (CHHHS) will centralise its COVID-19 testing in Cairns at Portsmith, as Rapid Antigen Test (RATs) usage in the Far North increases.
The COVID-19 testing clinic at the Cairns Showgrounds closed its doors on Sunday, March 27, as CHHHS records fewer people using the facility for PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) testing.
CHHHS executive director COVID-19 Response, Dr Donna Goodman, said worldwide, more people were testing for COVID-19 via RATs than traditional PCR testing.
“This trend is no different here in Cairns, as RATs have become more available,” she said.
“Our fever clinics have played a very important role since the pandemic, but the ease and efficiency of RATs has started to outweigh their usefulness to health authorities.
“We do still require PCR testing, as it can detect the presence of the virus even at very low concentrations, and therefore make a definite diagnosis of COVID-19.
“But we are happy that we have reached a point in our pandemic response where we can wind back the number of fever clinics we needed to detect COVID-19 across our region and return some of our hard-working staff to their regular roles within the Health Service.”
Dr Goodman said CHHHS would still be retaining an ability to stand up COVID-19 fever clinics at a moment’s notice, should there be a sudden surge in COVID-19 case numbers.
“We are in a pretty good place at the moment where the doublevaccination rate in the Cairns and Hinterland HHS region is more than 93%,” she said.
“Our case numbers have dwindled from approximately 1,500 per day at the height of the Omicron wave to approximately 250 per day now.
“We aren’t out of the woods yet, though. “Our booster rate is currently just over 60%, so there are still many people at risk of COVID-19 infection.
“We don’t know what to expect when international flights start touching down at Cairns Airport, so in any case, we still need people to get tested if they have any symptoms of COVID-19 and isolate immediately until you return a negative result.”
Cairns Hospital COVID-19 drive-through clinic is located at 43 Aumuller St, Portsmith, and is open 8:15am-4:00pm daily. No booking is needed. To find your closest testing location across our region, visit: www.qld.gov.au/health/covid19/testing
Report your positive RAT result by filling out this form at https://www.qld.gov.au/rat-positive
