Record Testing Numbers In Auckland, Central City CTC To Move To Eden Park

Wednesday 12 August was a record day for testing in Auckland with more than 7,800 tests now registered by the city’s laboratories. This number continues to increase as the laboratories register and process the swabs taken yesterday. The previous Auckland record was 6,407 tests registered on 23 June.

The tests on Wednesday include 3,546 people swabbed at community testing centres (CTCs), with a similar volume taken collectively by general practices, urgent care clinics and mobile testing units.

Demand remains high today. As at 2pm, the 15 CTCs in Auckland had swabbed 2,921 people. In addition, general practices and urgent care clinics also report a busy morning. COVID-19 testing is free wherever it is provided.

Auckland health authorities continue to monitor the demand for testing closely and are working to address issues as quickly as possible.

In the past 24 hours, nine new pop-up CTCs were opened across the city giving Auckland more testing capacity than ever before and relieving some of the pressure on the existing six CTCs and our general practices.

If you have any cold or flu-like symptoms call your doctor to find out where you should have a free test. Testing is carried out at general practices, urgent care clinics and community testing centres. You can also seek medical advice on COVID-19 from Healthline on 0800 358 5453.

New location for Central City CTC

From 8am on Friday morning the Central City CTC currently in Eden Terrace will be located at Eden Park. The new location (in the stadium’s Bus Hub on the corner of Sandringham Road and Reimers Avenue) provides better flow and a safer environment for pedestrians seeking testing than the current Eden Terrace site.

With good access to public transport, the Eden Park pop-up CTC will also be well set up for pedestrian ‘walk-ups’ to obtain a test.

Auckland public remain patient despite long queues

The three Auckland DHBs thank the public for their patience as they wait to be tested at our CTCs. We know people are experiencing long waits and we continue to work on ways to increase testing capacity in our region.

We encourage people with symptoms to call their local doctor to arrange a test if they can instead of visiting a CTC. All general practices and urgent care clinics provide free COVID-19 testing.

People who need to visit a CTC can help speed up the paperwork that is part of the process by bringing ID (one for every person who is being tested) and having their NHI number (if they know it) ready to give to our staff.

We also want to thank the residents and local businesses in the neighbourhoods where our CTCs are located for their patience and support. Traffic management plans are in place for each CTC and are monitored and updated, but we know the unprecedented demand for testing can impact local communities.

Stay calm, be kind, and remain vigilant.

The Northland and metro Auckland DHBs (Counties Manukau, Waitematā and Auckland DHBs) are operating a regional response to the COVID-19 pandemic through the Northern Region Health Coordination Centre (NRHCC).

The full lists of locations and hours for Community Testing Centres, pop-up Testing Centres and Urgent Care Clinics in metropolitan Auckland are below.

COMMUNITY TESTING CENTRES as at 14 August 2020

URGENT CARE CLINICS

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