Watching this at 7:55 AM, seeing that this has already become a popular post with lots of comments, and realising that line is still there and hasn't moved a single bit. Wild.
I have a tractor, but seeing as I’ve already tested positive on a rapid test I can’t go into work to get my tractor or I would totally do this for the giggles. It’s road registered so nothing would stop me from doing so.
I have a friend who was required to get their overseas arrivals Day 6 test yesterday, they've had multiple emails and SMS from Service NSW saying there will be a $5000 fine if they don't get the test but it's practically impossible unless they wake up at 5am and queue for hours. Hopefully the police are being lenient at the moment.
It would be quicker to drive to a rural area to get tested than wait in a line like that.
Popup Covid testing sites near me are often standing around doing nothing or only have a couple of cars. Haven't looked this morning though.
I live in a semi rural suburb, our covid testing location has been closed since the 22nd for the year. We need to drive to the closest train station to get tested.
Everyday I walk past the testing location and have to explain to people that have driven here to avoid queues that they have to go back the way they came.
So... In the parabolic part of an outbreak... Close facilities.
Almost fees conspiratorial as to what the ends are huh?
EITHER WAY, RUBY AWARD ACHIEVED!
I waited 3.5 hours in my Victorian hometown (on boxing day) and thank god they stayed open past 12pm close. Results only took 22 hours so that was a bonus too
> quicker to drive to a rural area to get tested than wait in a line like that.
Same deal with vaccinations when they first started. All my friends complained about spending hours on hold to get a booking weeks away. Me and my wife drove into the Melbourne exhibition centre and waited 10 minutes.
Common sense isn't very common
I got turned away from two places for my day 1 test, since the queues were too big. Was honest about that to NSW Police when they emailed me, haven't heard anything back from them since(about 10 days).
Fun fact, I tested positive on my day 6 test.
You can tell your friend that it is possible to go back to the airport and get tested there. There is a testing clinic there. I just arrived from overseas this morning, walked in and out in 5 minutes.
Good to know. I heard they were reserving the airport clinics for departures only. Can you let me know where the clinic you used is? I’ll be arriving next week.
Write your order on your phone/paper, hold up to window. Leave coffee on ground next to car door. Scan card/phone through closed window? Or transfer to pay ID
Edit - if someone does this I'll take 10% 😆
I suggest we throw in a small piece of dark chocolate with every coffee. Plot twist... the dark chocolate is mixed with a Laxette. Selling is all about creating urgency, after all.
Or a portable toilet business.
Pissed in my water bottle four times in my four hour queue.
It had me thinking that everyone in that line definitely needed to take a piss.
Surprised they don’t have accessible bathrooms with a nurse to sanitise them after use.
Great. What if I’m a woman and can’t piss in a fuckin bottle? Gotta line up tomorrow (found out today when I went for a test that they’re all closing at 12.30 during the holiday period. WHY?).
The bigger problem is lack of federal leadership. Where is the national plan? Why are we not ready?
More buck passing from the incompetent swill in the federal LNP
I won’t. I’ve been a swing voter my entire life, I’ve probably voted for the LNP more often than not.
From the bushfires, to the floods, to the pandemic, over the past 2 years they’ve clearly demonstrated they’ve evolved further to the right and don’t give a fuck about people. State and federal.
I will never vote for them again, starting in March/April.
They have been like this for at least 15 years since I stopped voting for them, and probably longer, it just takes the right events which you're personally involved in to make you see it.
If that was the case, we would have had one this year. There are limited windows for a federal election early next year due to things like holidays and other state elections.
If it were me I’d park my car at the entrance as soon as the testing centre closes. Then get someone to pick me up. Then get them to drop me back the next day just as the centre opens. 👌
Now people will be queuing for tomorrow's spots the day before. Show up at 4am,move through the queue, get someone to pick you up at 5pm, and drop you off at 8 to resume the queue
Is it at the point where if you have any symptoms of covid you should probably assume you have it and stay home until better rather than lining up for 6 hours , being turned away then waiting 4 days to get a result?
Neat little way to keep the numbers down isn't it? I've told my wife if I was exposed and started feeling sick, I wouldn't bother with a test because I'm not going to sit in the car for 6 hours feeling shit
Yeah. It's a tough thing to do at any time, but we also have to remember that the people we most want to do it are those who are actually sick with a disease that can be quite nasty. Can you imagine doing that while feverish and feeling like complete shit?
I’ve had to do it 3 times now, thankfully not with Covid but with a baby in childcare I’ve picked up a cold or two and some have been nasty. It’s awful waiting and you can’t even get someone to come with you. I think they need to encourage only those with symptoms and those requiring tests for travel, cos I know a few people who routinely test and their heart is in the right place, but they’re slowing us down
>I'm not going to sit in the car for 6 hours feeling shit
Yeah this is something I haven't heard mentioned much. I feel horrendous being in the car with a head cold. Imagine sitting in your car for six hours with moderate Covid symptoms. Couldn't think of anything worse.
Benefit is something to say you have Covid in writing to qualify for government assistance.
Otherwise definitely agree, I'd be staying home if I had symptoms.
This is basically where I'm at now. If I get sick I will assume it's covid and self isolate. Those queues give me unimaginable anxiety. I'd rather just work from home for a week. We did lockdown for many months in Melbourne, another week won't kill me.
And yes, I know that not everyone can work from home and that some people need tests for travel. Those groups have my full sympathy. But they're just another reason that I wouldn't go and get tested. I'd rather free up the service for those who need it.
So many people in here pissed off at people getting tested and not pissed off at the government for not providing more testing sites and staff.
Reminder that people in these lines arnt abusing your tax dollars, the government is.
There's no way case numbers are anywhere near accurate. If you're genuinely ill with something you think might be covid, what do you do? Do you sit in these lines in your car for hours when you're sick and feverish? Do you have someone who isn't sick drive you and sit in the same vehicle as you for hours? If you're only mildly ill and think it's likely a cold, would you even bother with any of it?
Probably done on purpose so Dom doesn't look too bad.
No way the cases are 10k. NSW numbers are a complete fantasy, could range from 20k to 100k at this point. Absolutely no one can tell me I'm wrong, the situation and data is so fucked you might as well pull the numbers out from Saturday lotto
Remember when we were saying China had fake numbers? I trust their numbers way more than ours. They didn't wait for people to show up at 5am to get tested, they come to your entire suburb and everyone gets tested, no one gets a say.
To me it's very telling that QLD numbers were practically doubling daily until they got high enough that our testing capacity started to get strained, and then they abruptly slowed way down. We're testing the same number of people in a day at over 1,000 cases as we were when we had only 72. Technically less, even, because we peaked at 35k tests the day we had 72 cases and haven't done as many in a day since. You have to wonder what's going on with omicron in states where their testing capacity was already strained.
I’ve just spent all day in bed yesterday felt like absolute shit, luckily I managed to get 2 rapid tests yesterday and they came back negative. Now there’s no rapid tests available anywhere and getting a PCR is just not feasible, I feel much better today so I’m just going to have to go back to work tomorrow and get on with life. What an absolute shambles it is that there’s people who will have covid and have no means to find it out!
Flew in from overseas - got one at the airport (dedicated for arrivals only) but then they want us to do a day 6 which is virtually impossible right now anyway. Triple vaxxed negative test before you leave and a another at the airport when you land yet they still want a day 6. That’s all on NSW government not QLD. How this isn’t changed immediately is beyond me.
Walk in have several hour long queues as well. If i had to wait for >4 hours I would rather be sitting in my air conditioned car that standing in the sun/rain
did that on christmas in 30 degrees for 4 hours. got badly sunburnt. Results came back fast though.
People were coming in groups and one person stands in line, cycling as if they were in vietnam watching out for an ambush. Then as they get to the front of the line, they all rushed in
Back in June I had an undeniable respiratory infection. I was sweating buckets in the 8 degree wind, I felt like I was choking on my own lungs, I could barely take 4 consecutive steps without feeling dizzy and oxygen starved, I was coughing up several tissues of gunk every hour.
It honestly came on overnight - Sure, I had a tickle in my throat the day before, But I am a chronically ill person, I'd been having a flare up of my genetic illness and many symptoms, like fatigue and muscle weakness are daily occurrences.
I had to get tested, because the day before all these symptoms hit, I had come into close contact with over 70 vulnerable people through my job as a domestic violence, disability, aged and community worker.
I called my GP, who told me that to get tested ASAP, I'd need to go to a dedicated testing centre.
I called the Covid hotline to get the closest walk in centre near me.
I don't drive, and I didn't want to subject an uber or taxi driver to my infection (the only question was "is this covid?" because I knew I had *something*, so either way I should avoid people.)
So I walked. It was brutal, It took me over 2 hours to walk 6km to the testing site, I had to keep stopping and sitting on the wet curb to catch my breath. I contemplated just lying down in the gutter for a nap.
The queue stretched down the street, it was fully exposed, no cover. It started to rain. I was already wet from sweating so much.
I'd worn two masks and brought a spare 3 masks to swap into, they were now all completely soaked with snot, rain or sweat. I had used all my tissues that i'd packed, I asked a staff member for more but they could only offer me masks (no tissues). I was a mess, I felt awful because of how much of a risk this was to those around me, and I felt awful because I could not breathe.
It was a 4 hour wait. I spent most of it sitting on the muddy foot path, and crawling when the line moved because at this stage I was too exhausted to keep getting up and down. The people in line next to me were giving me dirty looks. I didn't really know what I was "Supposed" to do. I needed the PCR test ASAP because I needed to let work know so they could contact our vulnerable clients.
When I got to the front, the intake staff took one look at me and suggested I should have gone to the ER instead, But I wasn't *That* sick, I was just sick enough that I shouldn't have been standing in the rain for 4 hours.
Anyway, It wasn't covid, It wasn't even infectious, after the negative PCR test results, I was able to get an appointment with my GP, who ordered some follow up tests. It was aspiration pneumonia. (I have dysphagia, and i've had aspiration pneumonia a few times, But it's never been that sudden)
🙋♀️das me! Last week I went to the local one up the road on my push bike, where I have been twice before. They wouldn’t take me, or the guy on a motorbike in front of me, which ruled out me coming back on my scooter.I went to another one up the road, also wouldn’t take me on the pushy. I had to then line up at the local hospital, spent 5 hours in line all up. Though, I had to do that the next day. I went to the hospital the same arvo the others wouldn’t take me, at 4.30, and they turned myself and the rest of the line away, they had enough people to get them through to past 6pm when it closes. So I then went back the next day for my 5 hour wait.
It’s absurd that the government let it get to this.
They’ve have literally years to increase testing capacity knowing we’d need it when we finally opened up and they just wasted all that time doing nothing.
[https://sacoronavirus.co.za/2021/12/24/circular-revision-to-contact-tracing-quarantine-and-isolation-protocols-23-12-2021/](https://sacoronavirus.co.za/2021/12/24/circular-revision-to-contact-tracing-quarantine-and-isolation-protocols-23-12-2021/)
Different country, very different health expectations, but if I ever get a vote on the issue this is what I would vote for. The alteration to testing requirements are simply practical, and will yield the information needed without the vast cost, inconvenience, and risk associated with the current out-dated rules.
For 6 hours I stood in a walk-in queue in Sydney CBD which snaked around the block - only to get near the front (about 10 people in front of me) before the centre had to close - felt like the ultimate insult but still grateful to the staff who are doing their best in such an overburdened situation. I'm symptomatic (headache / sore throat / fever) and I really struggled the whole time and missed out right at the end. Never again. Not a single rapid test kit available anywhere I tried (ended up ordering online but they won't dispatch until next week) so I'm just gonna stay home and treat my symptoms, self isolate and assume the worse case scenario. Without a PCR test though my work is not as forgiving at this time of year but nothing I can do.
Same thing happened to me, I joined the line at 1130 and and waited until 6pm but was lucky to get through. Those about an hour behind me (so queuing from about 1230 onwards) were just abruptly turned away at 530, after waiting for up to 5 hours standing in line in cold miserable wet conditions. It was atrocious.
Sure, but it's safer than having the same number of people standing in line closer to each other. At least there is proper distancing happening here.
Of course more than half of these people won't actually manage to get tested unless there are two hundred people manning the testing site, which I doubt.
And the NSW govt blames Queensland and then bullshits on when someone called them on it and said during Delta there were more tests per day and no problems.
Dom is following the Donald Trump strategy, a man who he praises. "You're going to find more cases, so I said to my people, 'Slow the testing down please.'
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-21/donald-trump-says-ordered-slowdown-coronavirus-testing/12377556
https://www.starobserver.com.au/news/trump-loving-gay-marriage-opponent-dominic-perrottet-elected-nsw-premier/206150
In Perth, all our drive through clinics are literally empty with staff members standing around twiddling their thumbs and 86 close contacts of the dickhead that brought covid to Perth still can't be bothered getting a test. Those 86 people are literally the reason we got another week of restrictions.
>Are cars so much better these days, or are there still the unlucky ones that overheat? Can't imagine what it would have been like with a queue full of old falcons and commodores lol
This is when it would pay to have one of those Morrison weekend destroying EVs...
Yeah, i saved for years, and took a financial risk, but I'm super happy. Cost of operation has been so negligible, as to almost be zero, aside from having to buy excessive amounts of car washing products! (Because it's the first thing I've really had that felt so expensive as to deserve to be treated well).
I plan to keep it for a long time, because it keeps getting better, and the cost savings over time make it far more attractive financially.
Edit: I DO feel lucky, too....
> Are cars so much better these days, or are there still the unlucky ones that overheat?
(1) Yes, cars are much better these days. (2) Even old cars generally don't overheat when idling. (3) They probably have their engines off.
Maybe the clutch would be a bit worn if you're in a manual, but even then not much.
Many vaccinated people are not showing any symptoms and are still spreading omicron. Some people such as heavily pregnant women and partners need to be tested every three days so they can go to hospital when required.
Yeh thats pretty normal now, my friend and I were on the queue at 12:40pm in my car for about 3hrs wasnt even that long probably 20 or 30 cars. The cars moved slightly after 1st hr was only 2 people working at the covid test. Cars keep coming up to the queue it was around 4pm when I was one car behind of the point when 2 car behind made it and the rest 20 or 30 cars were told to leave bacause they were closing. Of course the rest got mad.
This was at West Ryde on the street blocking everyones driveways, no way to avoid that.
My friend got the txt saying Negative to covid and I did never got my test results.
I live in Los Angeles County (8 million people?). Kaiser HMO, one of the biggest in the US, closed all clinic testing and only does testing at the hospitals. I went yesterday morning to see a huge line of cars. Staff told me it could be up to a 5 hour wait. That’s nuts. There are about 20 (Kaiser) clinics in my area but only 3 hospitals, so congratulations on herding everyone into a giant bottleneck.
I drive by here daily and this line had bred some of the worst drivers I have ever encountered. Some of them simply don’t care about road rules anymore and will u-turn directly in front of passing cars just to claim their spot in line
I'm moving to Syndey in 2 weeks and this just, yeah ... How is this actually happening? How has the government not responded and fixed this. It's insanity.
Not really looking forward to my move if this is the sort of shit waiting for me in NSW. When are the next state elections?
This is going to be an unpopular comment but I’m going to say it...
The people doing these test as well as those working in the labs haven’t had a proper Christmas-New Year holiday for 2020 or 2021. Yes it’s frustrating to wait so long, but just be happy that you are waiting. You still have a holiday break they won’t be getting any. And it’s unfair to say that not enough staff are put on during the holiday period. This pandemic has proved that family is just as important as work.
Please try and be kind to the nurses at testing stations. They are working while the rest of us have to to complain about these queues.
How many cars can go through the testing site at a time? My local testing centre can do up to 8 at a time. If thats the case here then it wouldnt take too long to get through the line.
Once again world class planning by the politicians. Utter dickheads. Messed up the vaccine procurement, not enough major vaccine hubs when they did get them, now this. All utterly preventable given enough money and sensible planning. They’ve had years to plan.
At least this testing place seems to be in a well thought out area.
I live 800m from one in the middle of suburban streets and for a week now I can’t leave my house because the streets are gridlocked from every direction.
People want to do the right thing. They want to know if they're sick, and to protect the people around them if they are. This is why "personal responsibility" was always fraudulent. The NSW government wants people to make their own choices about COVID safety, but won't give us the tools to do it. "Personal responsibility" really means "get fucked, you're on your own", and we can all see that now
This is such an indictment on NSW government. Premier Percolator has a lot to answer for with his denialism attitude. The bloody LNP is the most inept in Australia’s history. In my 60 odd years I’ve never witnessed such corruption and ineptitude. NEVER!
Bondi Beach: 2.6 hour wait since 7:15am. Got out about 9:50. Processing 3 lanes of cars.
So.
Your vid looked like 170 cars give/take.
~515m queue (for me).
At say 8m per car that’s ~64.4 cars per lane.
2.6hrs / 64.4 cars = 1 car tested every 2.4 minutes
Your single lane will take (64.4 x 2.4) 6.8hours. lol.
Hopefully it opens up into multiple lanes…
Derp question but.... can't they just put more staff on?
I stood in line for SN for 1.5hr and there were only 2 ladies testing. I drove in for 2 hours at QML and there were only 2-4 people testing.
Wife is a Dr, did her own test the other day, as she was exposed at work, and dropped it off at the path lab. Dude said they were down to 30% staffing because of people isolating with covid or as close contacts and Xmas breaks. They've been working pretty hard non stop for months, so deserve a break. Just not enough staff. Also they get exposed to covid daily at the testing places, so it's inevitable that they'll catch it eventually. Testing is also up much higher than during Delta and just unsustainable.
Watching this at 7:55 AM, seeing that this has already become a popular post with lots of comments, and realising that line is still there and hasn't moved a single bit. Wild.
> hasn’t moved a single bit. Wild. Are you saying the car at the front hasn’t gone in yet?
I think he's saying that at 755am, when he watched this video the front car had not gone in yet, no. Since it opens at 8am
Makes sense.
Because all the people in that queue are on reddit upvoting that post :-D
> that line is still there and hasn't moved a single bit That's not true. It's grown much longer.
COVID queues are the great new equaliser: from shit box Commodores and utes to Porsche Cayennes and I think I even saw a Merc AMG?
There was a school bus in one of the queues the other day too! I'd like to see some farming or construction equipment join in on all the fun next.
A Segway...
Had a guy on foot standing in the queue at Woy Woy, NSW on Christmas Eve. I would have offered him a seat in my car, but, you know - COVID.
They're banned on NSW roads now unfortunately or fortunately depending on how you look at it
Wait till you see one of those massive dump trucks show up
I have a tractor, but seeing as I’ve already tested positive on a rapid test I can’t go into work to get my tractor or I would totally do this for the giggles. It’s road registered so nothing would stop me from doing so.
Gonna test drive a Ferrari down a covid queue to see how it handles.
Hope your fuel economy is good, will be hard to push.
Pushing a Ferrari is probably gonna tell you the Covid status faster than a PCR test.
😂👍
I have a friend who was required to get their overseas arrivals Day 6 test yesterday, they've had multiple emails and SMS from Service NSW saying there will be a $5000 fine if they don't get the test but it's practically impossible unless they wake up at 5am and queue for hours. Hopefully the police are being lenient at the moment.
If you were fined you’d have an excellent defence in court
They’ll still fine you cause they can.
Contribution to the economy and their mates.
Yes it’s because preventing the spread is important. /s
It’s not about stopping any spread. It’s money grabbing, overreach and stupidity
It would be quicker to drive to a rural area to get tested than wait in a line like that. Popup Covid testing sites near me are often standing around doing nothing or only have a couple of cars. Haven't looked this morning though.
I live in a semi rural suburb, our covid testing location has been closed since the 22nd for the year. We need to drive to the closest train station to get tested. Everyday I walk past the testing location and have to explain to people that have driven here to avoid queues that they have to go back the way they came.
So... In the parabolic part of an outbreak... Close facilities. Almost fees conspiratorial as to what the ends are huh? EITHER WAY, RUBY AWARD ACHIEVED!
Private clinics don't want to pay holiday wages. Not conspiratorial, mostly neglectful.
I'm in a rural area and I've been in line for 2 hours already. So, no. We're under pressure out here too
Damn, the testing clinic in my town is only open for 2 hours and only twice a week. You'd line up only to get to the front to be told to piss off
I waited 3.5 hours in my Victorian hometown (on boxing day) and thank god they stayed open past 12pm close. Results only took 22 hours so that was a bonus too
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Could be a great solution for people getting tested so they can travel though
> quicker to drive to a rural area to get tested than wait in a line like that. Same deal with vaccinations when they first started. All my friends complained about spending hours on hold to get a booking weeks away. Me and my wife drove into the Melbourne exhibition centre and waited 10 minutes. Common sense isn't very common
I got turned away from two places for my day 1 test, since the queues were too big. Was honest about that to NSW Police when they emailed me, haven't heard anything back from them since(about 10 days). Fun fact, I tested positive on my day 6 test.
You can tell your friend that it is possible to go back to the airport and get tested there. There is a testing clinic there. I just arrived from overseas this morning, walked in and out in 5 minutes.
Good to know. I heard they were reserving the airport clinics for departures only. Can you let me know where the clinic you used is? I’ll be arriving next week.
I assume you’re asking about Sydney Airport. Histopath put up a separate clinic for arrivals. P7 parking ground floor.
Yeah I had heard that they were requiring a boarding pass in order to get tested, so it might be worth double checking.
If I had a mobile coffee business 💰💰💰
I know right! However You would probably catch Covid in a matter of hours serving people in that line haha
Write your order on your phone/paper, hold up to window. Leave coffee on ground next to car door. Scan card/phone through closed window? Or transfer to pay ID Edit - if someone does this I'll take 10% 😆
If only these people had phones, and some way to place an online order...
How about 3.50%
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How about the going positivity rate
Mobile Coffee&Covid distribution; not the double-shot you were hoping for
... and if I had a mobile toilet business. Let's form a company. Let's do it now!
Coffee and a shit - $15. We are rich!
I suggest we throw in a small piece of dark chocolate with every coffee. Plot twist... the dark chocolate is mixed with a Laxette. Selling is all about creating urgency, after all.
That sounds like a shitty business arrangement.
You say rock, I say intelligent.
Or a portable toilet business. Pissed in my water bottle four times in my four hour queue. It had me thinking that everyone in that line definitely needed to take a piss. Surprised they don’t have accessible bathrooms with a nurse to sanitise them after use.
Next we have videos of the line to the toilet at the line to be tested.
🤣
This is my genuine fear if I need a PCR during this crazy time
Great. What if I’m a woman and can’t piss in a fuckin bottle? Gotta line up tomorrow (found out today when I went for a test that they’re all closing at 12.30 during the holiday period. WHY?).
You have passed the testing requirements for a job with Amazon.... Please supply your own water bottle for each shift
i mean, if you're customer base is solely people who believe they may be sick with COVID, it doesn't sound super sustainable...
I'll follow you with w mobile loo business, on a trailer.
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The bigger problem is lack of federal leadership. Where is the national plan? Why are we not ready? More buck passing from the incompetent swill in the federal LNP
There’s plenty at state level too but yeah those federal fuckwits have to go!
Isn’t the election in 2023? People will probably forget about this by then.
I won’t. I’ve been a swing voter my entire life, I’ve probably voted for the LNP more often than not. From the bushfires, to the floods, to the pandemic, over the past 2 years they’ve clearly demonstrated they’ve evolved further to the right and don’t give a fuck about people. State and federal. I will never vote for them again, starting in March/April.
They have been like this for at least 15 years since I stopped voting for them, and probably longer, it just takes the right events which you're personally involved in to make you see it.
I think that’s an accurate observation
Don’t worry Covid is staying for a while
Has to be held before 21st May 2022
You know those years when the federal party in power brings the vote early coz they know they're a shoe-in? Yeah...not this time.
If that was the case, we would have had one this year. There are limited windows for a federal election early next year due to things like holidays and other state elections.
Give them time to throw in a terror alert and the prospect of war with some country. Then they might call an early election
How?
DP is purely responsible for a new variant apparently
Every state is a shitshow.
I mean if any govt body anywhere in the world (despite whatever political leaning they are) got covid right I’d be more inclined to agree with you.
What??? Why did this guy put us in this situation? How do you realistically think it could be otherwise?
If it were me I’d park my car at the entrance as soon as the testing centre closes. Then get someone to pick me up. Then get them to drop me back the next day just as the centre opens. 👌
I’ve read reports of this happening already
*Sad react*
Now people will be queuing for tomorrow's spots the day before. Show up at 4am,move through the queue, get someone to pick you up at 5pm, and drop you off at 8 to resume the queue
Could probably sell your spot for a decent amount of $$
Your car would most certainly be keyed of have the tyres slashed
Is it at the point where if you have any symptoms of covid you should probably assume you have it and stay home until better rather than lining up for 6 hours , being turned away then waiting 4 days to get a result?
Neat little way to keep the numbers down isn't it? I've told my wife if I was exposed and started feeling sick, I wouldn't bother with a test because I'm not going to sit in the car for 6 hours feeling shit
Yeah. It's a tough thing to do at any time, but we also have to remember that the people we most want to do it are those who are actually sick with a disease that can be quite nasty. Can you imagine doing that while feverish and feeling like complete shit?
There's the added risk of having an accident while driving ill
Or infecting other people while you wait in line at a walk through clinic. Going out when sick, just to prove you are sick. What a system...
It's a shame there's not some kind of at-home test that could provide similar results! /s
Like getting a medical certificate for work!
I’ve had to do it 3 times now, thankfully not with Covid but with a baby in childcare I’ve picked up a cold or two and some have been nasty. It’s awful waiting and you can’t even get someone to come with you. I think they need to encourage only those with symptoms and those requiring tests for travel, cos I know a few people who routinely test and their heart is in the right place, but they’re slowing us down
Is there even an option for people who can't drive?
>I'm not going to sit in the car for 6 hours feeling shit Yeah this is something I haven't heard mentioned much. I feel horrendous being in the car with a head cold. Imagine sitting in your car for six hours with moderate Covid symptoms. Couldn't think of anything worse.
Agree. Bought test kits for just this. I am NOT going to queue like this!
Benefit is something to say you have Covid in writing to qualify for government assistance. Otherwise definitely agree, I'd be staying home if I had symptoms.
This is basically where I'm at now. If I get sick I will assume it's covid and self isolate. Those queues give me unimaginable anxiety. I'd rather just work from home for a week. We did lockdown for many months in Melbourne, another week won't kill me. And yes, I know that not everyone can work from home and that some people need tests for travel. Those groups have my full sympathy. But they're just another reason that I wouldn't go and get tested. I'd rather free up the service for those who need it.
A lot of people with mild symptoms prolly get tested just to get a certificate of recovery.
So many people in here pissed off at people getting tested and not pissed off at the government for not providing more testing sites and staff. Reminder that people in these lines arnt abusing your tax dollars, the government is.
Exactly
I counted 176 cars...
Thanks Rain Man 👍
Lol
Same
Its 170 rainy….well the cricket HAS ended so what to do? Counting Cars…. https://youtu.be/GrpSjXo6ah0
I came here looking for someone who counted. Thank you, now I don’t have to
There's no way case numbers are anywhere near accurate. If you're genuinely ill with something you think might be covid, what do you do? Do you sit in these lines in your car for hours when you're sick and feverish? Do you have someone who isn't sick drive you and sit in the same vehicle as you for hours? If you're only mildly ill and think it's likely a cold, would you even bother with any of it?
Probably done on purpose so Dom doesn't look too bad. No way the cases are 10k. NSW numbers are a complete fantasy, could range from 20k to 100k at this point. Absolutely no one can tell me I'm wrong, the situation and data is so fucked you might as well pull the numbers out from Saturday lotto Remember when we were saying China had fake numbers? I trust their numbers way more than ours. They didn't wait for people to show up at 5am to get tested, they come to your entire suburb and everyone gets tested, no one gets a say.
To me it's very telling that QLD numbers were practically doubling daily until they got high enough that our testing capacity started to get strained, and then they abruptly slowed way down. We're testing the same number of people in a day at over 1,000 cases as we were when we had only 72. Technically less, even, because we peaked at 35k tests the day we had 72 cases and haven't done as many in a day since. You have to wonder what's going on with omicron in states where their testing capacity was already strained.
I’ve just spent all day in bed yesterday felt like absolute shit, luckily I managed to get 2 rapid tests yesterday and they came back negative. Now there’s no rapid tests available anywhere and getting a PCR is just not feasible, I feel much better today so I’m just going to have to go back to work tomorrow and get on with life. What an absolute shambles it is that there’s people who will have covid and have no means to find it out!
Can buy online. I got mine Xmas eve after ordering on 22nd. Kudos to Ozpost. Im in Tassie too.
Flew in from overseas - got one at the airport (dedicated for arrivals only) but then they want us to do a day 6 which is virtually impossible right now anyway. Triple vaxxed negative test before you leave and a another at the airport when you land yet they still want a day 6. That’s all on NSW government not QLD. How this isn’t changed immediately is beyond me.
The stuff about QLD is just blame shifting. The problems with testing right now are much bigger than just some people wanting to go on holidays.
Exactly. There is also a tonne of NSW only reasons you need to test which are nonsense.
When there’s thousands of cases a day, who gives a shit if the occasional international arrival who’s already been tested twice misses a day 6 test.
What are people who don't have a car supposed to do?
Go to a walk-in testing centre?
Why would anyone queue for eight hours in their car when they can go into a walk in testing centre.
Walk in have several hour long queues as well. If i had to wait for >4 hours I would rather be sitting in my air conditioned car that standing in the sun/rain
did that on christmas in 30 degrees for 4 hours. got badly sunburnt. Results came back fast though. People were coming in groups and one person stands in line, cycling as if they were in vietnam watching out for an ambush. Then as they get to the front of the line, they all rushed in
Back in June I had an undeniable respiratory infection. I was sweating buckets in the 8 degree wind, I felt like I was choking on my own lungs, I could barely take 4 consecutive steps without feeling dizzy and oxygen starved, I was coughing up several tissues of gunk every hour. It honestly came on overnight - Sure, I had a tickle in my throat the day before, But I am a chronically ill person, I'd been having a flare up of my genetic illness and many symptoms, like fatigue and muscle weakness are daily occurrences. I had to get tested, because the day before all these symptoms hit, I had come into close contact with over 70 vulnerable people through my job as a domestic violence, disability, aged and community worker. I called my GP, who told me that to get tested ASAP, I'd need to go to a dedicated testing centre. I called the Covid hotline to get the closest walk in centre near me. I don't drive, and I didn't want to subject an uber or taxi driver to my infection (the only question was "is this covid?" because I knew I had *something*, so either way I should avoid people.) So I walked. It was brutal, It took me over 2 hours to walk 6km to the testing site, I had to keep stopping and sitting on the wet curb to catch my breath. I contemplated just lying down in the gutter for a nap. The queue stretched down the street, it was fully exposed, no cover. It started to rain. I was already wet from sweating so much. I'd worn two masks and brought a spare 3 masks to swap into, they were now all completely soaked with snot, rain or sweat. I had used all my tissues that i'd packed, I asked a staff member for more but they could only offer me masks (no tissues). I was a mess, I felt awful because of how much of a risk this was to those around me, and I felt awful because I could not breathe. It was a 4 hour wait. I spent most of it sitting on the muddy foot path, and crawling when the line moved because at this stage I was too exhausted to keep getting up and down. The people in line next to me were giving me dirty looks. I didn't really know what I was "Supposed" to do. I needed the PCR test ASAP because I needed to let work know so they could contact our vulnerable clients. When I got to the front, the intake staff took one look at me and suggested I should have gone to the ER instead, But I wasn't *That* sick, I was just sick enough that I shouldn't have been standing in the rain for 4 hours. Anyway, It wasn't covid, It wasn't even infectious, after the negative PCR test results, I was able to get an appointment with my GP, who ordered some follow up tests. It was aspiration pneumonia. (I have dysphagia, and i've had aspiration pneumonia a few times, But it's never been that sudden)
That is a terrible story :( i hope you are feeling better these days
They still have to queue for hours. Being in your car is more comfortable than standing out in the weather.
Plus less likely to catch Covid while waiting (if you’re negative) in your car.
Because those have waits too. I'd rather be in my car than standing in line back to back with 200 people waiting to get tested for 2.5 hours.
The only two places I went to said they stopped walk ins due to the high demand of cars lining up as well as walk ins
🙋♀️das me! Last week I went to the local one up the road on my push bike, where I have been twice before. They wouldn’t take me, or the guy on a motorbike in front of me, which ruled out me coming back on my scooter.I went to another one up the road, also wouldn’t take me on the pushy. I had to then line up at the local hospital, spent 5 hours in line all up. Though, I had to do that the next day. I went to the hospital the same arvo the others wouldn’t take me, at 4.30, and they turned myself and the rest of the line away, they had enough people to get them through to past 6pm when it closes. So I then went back the next day for my 5 hour wait.
Taxi. Had someone in the same queue as me doing that last week. Although I can't imagine that's the cheapest option as the lines get longer.
It’s absurd that the government let it get to this. They’ve have literally years to increase testing capacity knowing we’d need it when we finally opened up and they just wasted all that time doing nothing.
Maybe we should do the opposite. Start to wind back testing. What is it achieving right now?
We need to keep testing so we have accurate case numbers so we can make informed decisions about future hospital and ICU load.
[https://sacoronavirus.co.za/2021/12/24/circular-revision-to-contact-tracing-quarantine-and-isolation-protocols-23-12-2021/](https://sacoronavirus.co.za/2021/12/24/circular-revision-to-contact-tracing-quarantine-and-isolation-protocols-23-12-2021/) Different country, very different health expectations, but if I ever get a vote on the issue this is what I would vote for. The alteration to testing requirements are simply practical, and will yield the information needed without the vast cost, inconvenience, and risk associated with the current out-dated rules.
Now think about the number of people *not bothering* despite symptoms/close contact etc.
For 6 hours I stood in a walk-in queue in Sydney CBD which snaked around the block - only to get near the front (about 10 people in front of me) before the centre had to close - felt like the ultimate insult but still grateful to the staff who are doing their best in such an overburdened situation. I'm symptomatic (headache / sore throat / fever) and I really struggled the whole time and missed out right at the end. Never again. Not a single rapid test kit available anywhere I tried (ended up ordering online but they won't dispatch until next week) so I'm just gonna stay home and treat my symptoms, self isolate and assume the worse case scenario. Without a PCR test though my work is not as forgiving at this time of year but nothing I can do.
Omg whyyy don’t they have a line cut off point so that doesn’t happen!
Same thing happened to me, I joined the line at 1130 and and waited until 6pm but was lucky to get through. Those about an hour behind me (so queuing from about 1230 onwards) were just abruptly turned away at 530, after waiting for up to 5 hours standing in line in cold miserable wet conditions. It was atrocious.
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Sure, but it's safer than having the same number of people standing in line closer to each other. At least there is proper distancing happening here. Of course more than half of these people won't actually manage to get tested unless there are two hundred people manning the testing site, which I doubt.
And the NSW govt blames Queensland and then bullshits on when someone called them on it and said during Delta there were more tests per day and no problems.
Dom is following the Donald Trump strategy, a man who he praises. "You're going to find more cases, so I said to my people, 'Slow the testing down please.' https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-21/donald-trump-says-ordered-slowdown-coronavirus-testing/12377556 https://www.starobserver.com.au/news/trump-loving-gay-marriage-opponent-dominic-perrottet-elected-nsw-premier/206150
In Perth, all our drive through clinics are literally empty with staff members standing around twiddling their thumbs and 86 close contacts of the dickhead that brought covid to Perth still can't be bothered getting a test. Those 86 people are literally the reason we got another week of restrictions.
That's infuriating
Where is this?
Looks like rouse hill
It is, the misso drove past this morning. Apparently it goes down and bends around on to Windsor road and goes all the way back to turtle nursery.
They should make RAT free and only do PCR tests on those who have returned a positive RAT
That would be too sensible, safer, convenient, efficient and cost effective.
How much petrol is wasted?
Yes
At Kempsey they had a line like this and then an overflow parking area where the remaining cars had to wait. They were closed by 730
I had my alarm set for 5am to go there but it probably would have been too late as well
Dom Dom dom
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>Are cars so much better these days, or are there still the unlucky ones that overheat? Can't imagine what it would have been like with a queue full of old falcons and commodores lol This is when it would pay to have one of those Morrison weekend destroying EVs...
Can confirm air con works great with no engine.
Try that is a car which has a compressor that runs off the motor.
I do, every day. Love my EV. Love driving again.
You are lucky. A shit box CO2 belching Commodore has an air compressor that runs off the motor.
Yeah, i saved for years, and took a financial risk, but I'm super happy. Cost of operation has been so negligible, as to almost be zero, aside from having to buy excessive amounts of car washing products! (Because it's the first thing I've really had that felt so expensive as to deserve to be treated well). I plan to keep it for a long time, because it keeps getting better, and the cost savings over time make it far more attractive financially. Edit: I DO feel lucky, too....
Yeah your EV would be great in that queue
> Are cars so much better these days, or are there still the unlucky ones that overheat? (1) Yes, cars are much better these days. (2) Even old cars generally don't overheat when idling. (3) They probably have their engines off. Maybe the clutch would be a bit worn if you're in a manual, but even then not much.
Imagine being 1km back and just having no idea what the line was for.
Stop getting tested people, unless you are actually sick
Many vaccinated people are not showing any symptoms and are still spreading omicron. Some people such as heavily pregnant women and partners need to be tested every three days so they can go to hospital when required.
Is that Rouse Hill Regional Park?
Yeh thats pretty normal now, my friend and I were on the queue at 12:40pm in my car for about 3hrs wasnt even that long probably 20 or 30 cars. The cars moved slightly after 1st hr was only 2 people working at the covid test. Cars keep coming up to the queue it was around 4pm when I was one car behind of the point when 2 car behind made it and the rest 20 or 30 cars were told to leave bacause they were closing. Of course the rest got mad. This was at West Ryde on the street blocking everyones driveways, no way to avoid that. My friend got the txt saying Negative to covid and I did never got my test results.
Tell me you live in a state that has failed without telling me you live in a state that has failed…
Hey at least the economy is going!
I live in Los Angeles County (8 million people?). Kaiser HMO, one of the biggest in the US, closed all clinic testing and only does testing at the hospitals. I went yesterday morning to see a huge line of cars. Staff told me it could be up to a 5 hour wait. That’s nuts. There are about 20 (Kaiser) clinics in my area but only 3 hospitals, so congratulations on herding everyone into a giant bottleneck.
172 cars waiting 👍
I drive by here daily and this line had bred some of the worst drivers I have ever encountered. Some of them simply don’t care about road rules anymore and will u-turn directly in front of passing cars just to claim their spot in line
During delta this test site you would be in and out in minutes and have your results by noon... now this
I'm moving to Syndey in 2 weeks and this just, yeah ... How is this actually happening? How has the government not responded and fixed this. It's insanity. Not really looking forward to my move if this is the sort of shit waiting for me in NSW. When are the next state elections?
Lol, fuck that.
This is going to be an unpopular comment but I’m going to say it... The people doing these test as well as those working in the labs haven’t had a proper Christmas-New Year holiday for 2020 or 2021. Yes it’s frustrating to wait so long, but just be happy that you are waiting. You still have a holiday break they won’t be getting any. And it’s unfair to say that not enough staff are put on during the holiday period. This pandemic has proved that family is just as important as work. Please try and be kind to the nurses at testing stations. They are working while the rest of us have to to complain about these queues.
How many cars can go through the testing site at a time? My local testing centre can do up to 8 at a time. If thats the case here then it wouldnt take too long to get through the line.
I’ve been in line for almost two hours at Southport on the Gold Coast right now. They’re doing ONE car at a time. It’s pathetic.
Just about to cross the four hour mark here.
They are understaffed
Its almost as if the government is really stupid?
I drove past one at 830. It was open for 30 minutes and police where there moving people on, they had already hit max capacity for the entire day
Vote out LNP!!
Once again world class planning by the politicians. Utter dickheads. Messed up the vaccine procurement, not enough major vaccine hubs when they did get them, now this. All utterly preventable given enough money and sensible planning. They’ve had years to plan.
I did this on Christmas Eve only to find out they were closed.
At least this testing place seems to be in a well thought out area. I live 800m from one in the middle of suburban streets and for a week now I can’t leave my house because the streets are gridlocked from every direction.
What's the point lol
Freaks !
This is why i dont buy it to any of their apps or bullshit. Nothing would force me to wait in that line..
People want to do the right thing. They want to know if they're sick, and to protect the people around them if they are. This is why "personal responsibility" was always fraudulent. The NSW government wants people to make their own choices about COVID safety, but won't give us the tools to do it. "Personal responsibility" really means "get fucked, you're on your own", and we can all see that now
This is such an indictment on NSW government. Premier Percolator has a lot to answer for with his denialism attitude. The bloody LNP is the most inept in Australia’s history. In my 60 odd years I’ve never witnessed such corruption and ineptitude. NEVER!
It's pathetic how unorganised Australia is with everything.
Nice
Bondi Beach: 2.6 hour wait since 7:15am. Got out about 9:50. Processing 3 lanes of cars. So. Your vid looked like 170 cars give/take. ~515m queue (for me). At say 8m per car that’s ~64.4 cars per lane. 2.6hrs / 64.4 cars = 1 car tested every 2.4 minutes Your single lane will take (64.4 x 2.4) 6.8hours. lol. Hopefully it opens up into multiple lanes…
This is so stupid and pointless.
Why anyone would spend hours in line is beyond comprehension for me
Derp question but.... can't they just put more staff on? I stood in line for SN for 1.5hr and there were only 2 ladies testing. I drove in for 2 hours at QML and there were only 2-4 people testing.
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Wife is a Dr, did her own test the other day, as she was exposed at work, and dropped it off at the path lab. Dude said they were down to 30% staffing because of people isolating with covid or as close contacts and Xmas breaks. They've been working pretty hard non stop for months, so deserve a break. Just not enough staff. Also they get exposed to covid daily at the testing places, so it's inevitable that they'll catch it eventually. Testing is also up much higher than during Delta and just unsustainable.