Get tested now for COVID in Hawkesbury if you have even slightest symptoms, urges Healthcare CEO

Hawkesbury residents are being urged to get tested for COVID – even if they have only minor symptoms – with Wentworth Healthcare CEO Lizz Reay also asking residents to be tolerant towards medical staff who are “bearing the brunt of community frustration regarding vaccination”.

Yesterday many residents expressed frustration at the long queues at drive through testing centres across the Hawkesbury, a situation not helped by the closure of the Clarendon drive through centre when the one at Hawkesbury Hospital opened.

But in some good news, the Hawkesbury

Hospital drive through centre said yesterday it would open from 7.30am for

the next three days – until Friday – to try and help get the wait times down.

And yesterday many residents were expressing frustration at the long queues at drive through testing centres across the Hawkesbury, a situation not helped by the closure of the Clarendon drive through centre when the one at Hawkesbury Hospital opened.

The Hawkesbury Hospital drive through centre said yesterday it would open from 7.30am for the next three days – until Friday – to try and help get the wait times down.

Wentworth Healthcare runs the Nepean Blue Mountains Primary Health Network, and Ms Reay says, “it is vital that we don’t start taking respiratory symptoms lightly. It’s easy to think it’s just the sniffles or hay fever but the fact is, we don’t know it’s not COVID-19 unless we get tested.

“Although up until now, no-one in Hawkesbury has tested positive for some time, the fact is that we are still in a global pandemic and we are in the midst of an outbreak in the Greater Sydney area, which means we cannot be complacent. It is up to all of us to help suppress this disease, and the best way to do this is to get tested when we experience any COVID-like symptoms, even mild ones,” said Ms Reay.

“The second thing we can do is to get vaccinated as soon as we are eligible. I do urge the community to be patient and respectful with practice staff when trying to make an appointment. We are hearing reports that practice staff are bearing the brunt of community frustration regarding vaccination,” Ms Reay said.

Some residents seeking vaccinations in the Hawkesbury have been frustrated because the Pfizer vaccine is often not readily available, with the Federal Government failing to secure enough supplies – more doses of the vaccines are due by September-October.

“It is understandable that the community is anxious but our general practices are working as hard as they can vaccinate our community with the limited vaccines available,” said Ms Reay.

“It is important that at this time, we all pull together as a community and try not to make the job of our health professionals more difficult,” she said.

Wentworth Healthcare helped establish the federally funded GP-led COVID-19 Respiratory Clinic in Windsor, which is one of three free GP-led Clinics in the Nepean Blue Mountains region.

The Respiratory Clinics assess people with any respiratory symptoms such as a runny nose, sore throat, fever, cough or shortness of breath and provide COVID-19 testing.

The GP-led COVID-19 Respiratory Clinic in Windsor is one of five testing options available in the Hawkesbury region. All testing clinics are free to access, including the privately run clinics. Testing options and locations are:

• Windsor: GP Respiratory Clinic, 2 Kable St, Windsor (previously located at 6 Kable St, Windsor). Mon – Thurs 1.30 – 5.30. Bookings required online.

• Richmond: Laverty Pathology Drive-through, Hawkesbury Family Practice, Rear Carpark, 86 Lennox Street, Richmond. Mon-Fri 8:00am-2:00pm. No booking required.

• Vineyard: 4Cyte Pathology Drive-through & Walk-In Clinic, 357 Windsor Road, Vineyard. Mon- Fri, closes at 5pm.

• Windsor: ACL Drive-through, Hawkesbury District Health Service, 2 Day St Windsor. Mon- Fri 7.30am to 4.30pm. Saturday – 9am to 4pm. No booking required.

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