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| Can I get tested for coronavirus in Australia? A state-by-state breakdown | Can I get tested for coronavirus in Australia? A state-by-state breakdown |
| (about 16 hours later) | |
| Each state and territory has different rules about Covid-19 tests, from random testing in the ACT to hotspot clinics in NSW and Queensland | Each state and territory has different rules about Covid-19 tests, from random testing in the ACT to hotspot clinics in NSW and Queensland |
| A reduction in the number of new confirmed cases of coronavirus in Australia has coincided with a decline in the number of people returning from overseas. Australian health authorities in a number of states and territories are now easing up previous restrictions on testing so that at-risk workers or those in hotspots can be tested for possible community transmission. | A reduction in the number of new confirmed cases of coronavirus in Australia has coincided with a decline in the number of people returning from overseas. Australian health authorities in a number of states and territories are now easing up previous restrictions on testing so that at-risk workers or those in hotspots can be tested for possible community transmission. |
| If you suspect you have coronavirus in Australia and want to get tested, here’s a guide to the criteria in each state and territory. In all jurisdictions you remain eligible for testing if you are showing symptoms and you have recently been overseas or been in contact with a confirmed case. | If you suspect you have coronavirus in Australia and want to get tested, here’s a guide to the criteria in each state and territory. In all jurisdictions you remain eligible for testing if you are showing symptoms and you have recently been overseas or been in contact with a confirmed case. |
| New South Wales | New South Wales |
| People with fever or flu-like symptoms in Sydney – Waverley, Woollahra, Dee Why, Manly, Ryde, Macquarie Park – and regional NSW: Broken Hill, Lake Macquarie, the Manning Valley, Nowra, south Nowra, Byron Bay and Port Macquarie can now get tested due to concerns about clusters in those areas. You also meet NSW testing criteria if you have a fever or respiratory illness and live in a high-risk location (aged care facilities, boarding houses etc), are an aged care or healthcare worker, identify as Aboriginal in a regional or remote community or have been referred by a GP for testing. | People with fever or flu-like symptoms in Sydney – Waverley, Woollahra, Dee Why, Manly, Ryde, Macquarie Park – and regional NSW: Broken Hill, Lake Macquarie, the Manning Valley, Nowra, south Nowra, Byron Bay and Port Macquarie can now get tested due to concerns about clusters in those areas. You also meet NSW testing criteria if you have a fever or respiratory illness and live in a high-risk location (aged care facilities, boarding houses etc), are an aged care or healthcare worker, identify as Aboriginal in a regional or remote community or have been referred by a GP for testing. |
| Victoria | Victoria |
| Victorians who are over 65, school teachers, childcare workers and firefighters who attend medical emergencies can also get tested if they have symptoms. Healthcare workers, police, and aged care workers were already eligible to get tested. | Victorians who are over 65, school teachers, childcare workers and firefighters who attend medical emergencies can also get tested if they have symptoms. Healthcare workers, police, and aged care workers were already eligible to get tested. |
| Queensland | Queensland |
| The Queensland chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young announced on Monday testing would be done in hotspots on the Gold Coast, Brisbane and in Cairns after 32 cases where the source of the transmission was unknown. The state’s other testing criteria includes people with a fever or respiratory illness and living in a high-risk location (aged care facilities, boarding houses etc), aged care or healthcare workers, and those who identify as Aboriginal in a regional or remote community. | The Queensland chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young announced on Monday testing would be done in hotspots on the Gold Coast, Brisbane and in Cairns after 32 cases where the source of the transmission was unknown. The state’s other testing criteria includes people with a fever or respiratory illness and living in a high-risk location (aged care facilities, boarding houses etc), aged care or healthcare workers, and those who identify as Aboriginal in a regional or remote community. |
| Western Australia | Western Australia |
| Western Australia expanded its testing last week to include any member of the general public who presents at a Covid-19 clinic with both a fever and an acute respiratory infection. High-risk workers with either of those conditions can get tested, and anyone in a high-risk setting like an aged care facility or detention centre where two or more people have either symptom can get tested. | Western Australia expanded its testing last week to include any member of the general public who presents at a Covid-19 clinic with both a fever and an acute respiratory infection. High-risk workers with either of those conditions can get tested, and anyone in a high-risk setting like an aged care facility or detention centre where two or more people have either symptom can get tested. |
| ACT | ACT |
| The ACT has random testing at Weston Creek and a drive-through testing clinic at Epic (Exhibition Park in Canberra), where anyone with coronavirus symptoms can get tested. | The ACT has random testing at Weston Creek and a drive-through testing clinic at Epic (Exhibition Park in Canberra), where anyone with coronavirus symptoms can get tested. |
| South Australia | South Australia |
| You can get tested if you have symptoms and have travelled overseas or interstate in the past 14 days, if you have symptoms and have been in contact with a confirmed case, or if you have symptoms and you are a health or aged care worker. | You can get tested if you have symptoms and have travelled overseas or interstate in the past 14 days, if you have symptoms and have been in contact with a confirmed case, or if you have symptoms and you are a health or aged care worker. |
| The state is also asking people with symptoms who have been at Adelaide Airport, Angaston, Nuriootpa, Tanuda, Lyndoch or Williamstown in the past 14 days to get tested. | |
| Tasmania | Tasmania |
| The existing conditions remain in place. That is, only people with symptoms who have travelled internationally or interstate recently or have had contact with a confirmed case can get tested. However, health and aged care workers with both a respiratory illness and fever can get also tested. | The existing conditions remain in place. That is, only people with symptoms who have travelled internationally or interstate recently or have had contact with a confirmed case can get tested. However, health and aged care workers with both a respiratory illness and fever can get also tested. |
| Northern Territory | Northern Territory |
| You can get tested if you have returned from interstate or overseas in the past 14 days and develop a respiratory illness, or have been in contact with a confirmed case, or have severe community-acquired pneumonia and there is no clear cause, or you are a healthcare worker who has a respiratory illness and a fever. | You can get tested if you have returned from interstate or overseas in the past 14 days and develop a respiratory illness, or have been in contact with a confirmed case, or have severe community-acquired pneumonia and there is no clear cause, or you are a healthcare worker who has a respiratory illness and a fever. |
| Community transmission | Community transmission |
| On Sunday, Australia’s chief medical officer, Brendan Murphy, said the biggest concern in Australia was the community transmission, which accounts for about 10% of cases nationally. | On Sunday, Australia’s chief medical officer, Brendan Murphy, said the biggest concern in Australia was the community transmission, which accounts for about 10% of cases nationally. |
| “I may sound like a broken record at times but community transmission is what worries me most of all,” he said. | “I may sound like a broken record at times but community transmission is what worries me most of all,” he said. |
| “Those are the reason we have brought in the social distancing measures and all the measures to stop the spread.” | “Those are the reason we have brought in the social distancing measures and all the measures to stop the spread.” |
| He said Australia was in a good place, and achieving good control because the community was mostly complying with what had been asked. He urged people to not travel or have parties over Easter. | He said Australia was in a good place, and achieving good control because the community was mostly complying with what had been asked. He urged people to not travel or have parties over Easter. |