Since it opened on March 21, the Bellingen COVID-19 drive-through clinic has seen over 100 people and has diagnosed one local case.
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Operating out of the old aged care facility at 15-23 Watson Street Bellingen, the clinic is open from 12pm to 2pm six days a week (Monday to Saturday) except for public holidays.
The clinic was set up as a united response by Bellingen Shire medical professionals to proactively deal with the COVID-19 pandemic threat.
David Cheney said staff are fully gowned-up in personal protective gear and the clinic serves to safely redirect potentially infectious people away from the hospital and local surgeries.
"We provide a single point for the assessment of respiratory illnesses and the testing of suspected COVID-19 cases that meet current testing criteria," David said.
"Clinic visits are bulk billed to Medicare and there are no out-of-pocket expenses for patients."
He noted that while the clinic staff were happy to assess any patients with respiratory or flu-like symptoms and to give advice to concerned members of the community, there are strict government criteria in place for who can be tested for COVID-19 itself.
As of April 7, the criteria are:
- Overseas travel or a cruise in the last 2 weeks, AND a fever or flu-like symptoms
- Close contact with someone with COVID in the last 2 weeks, AND a fever or flu-like symptoms
- Healthcare, aged care or emergency services workers WITH a fever or flu-like illness
"However, please note that the testing criteria is subject to frequent change," David said.
"If in doubt, please call your GP to see whether you should visit the clinic."