Long queues at Taranaki testing stations in wake of discovery of Delta variant in Auckland

Hundreds of Taranaki people flocked to get Covid-19 tests in the wake of the Delta variant being found in Auckland.

On Thursday morning, one of those getting tested was Paul Bishop.

The Oakura man had been turned away from the Taranaki Base Hospital Covid-19 testing station on Wednesday, because he was too far back in the queue before the station closed.

The Taranaki Disytrict Health Board (TDHB) website says the testing centre is open from 9am-3pm on week days, but the hours are “flexible depending on demand”.

Bishop’s second attempt was more successful. He was one of about 50 people queueing up in cars along Tukapa St and into Borrell Ave around 10am.

The number of people being tested has risen dramatically since New Zealand moved into level 4 lockdown at 11.59pm on Tuesday, after a 58-year-old man tested positive for the highly transmissible strain.

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By Thursday afternoon, 21 cases had been confirmed in the Auckland community, with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield both saying they expect more.

During the morning, 160 tests were carried out at Taranaki Base Hospital, with figures for the rest of the region still being compiled by the Taranaki District Health Board (TDHB).

On Wednesday, about 500 tests for Covid-19 were taken across Taranaki, the TDHB said.

Bishop said he’d first tried to get tested on Wednesday afternoon, having driven back from Tauranga where he had been working.

He had a sore throat so thought he should get a test.

‘’I showed up. There was a fairly long line of cars. I don’t know how many, because it was snaking around different streets.’’

Bishop arrived at about 2.10pm and joined the back of the queue on Tukapa St, he said.

‘’And at about 2.15 the guy in a high viz came out and said, ‘You’re not going to make it. The nurses are going to go home at 3 o’clock.’’’

Bishop was shocked.

‘’The website said 9am to 3pm, but in my opinion we are in this level 4 crisis. We’re trying to find out what’s in the community, and not putting any extra staff on – that’s a bit s..t, really, I think.’’

Somebody was not seeing the big picture, he said.

‘’I know labour is short, but this is obviously a big one. I wouldn’t have been the only one turned away.’’

Lydia Rae, Taranaki DHB’s Covid-19 testing lead, said the centre is open from 9am to 3pm, and it has not closed before this time.

‘’And to allow for high volumes of people requiring a test we have been operating extended hours.

‘’We are working to ensure people who have visited a location of interest and have Covid-19 symptoms are prioritised for testing.

‘’Queues are limited from 3pm in order to get through numbers already waiting and complete testing at an appropriate time. This is reviewed depending on demand.’’

Testing centres are open at Taranaki Base Hospital, Hāwera Hospital, MediCross in New Plymouth, the Waitara Health Centre and Opunake Health Centre.

Ngāruahine Health Service is also running several pop-up testing clinics across central and south Taranaki in the coming days.

Clinics will be held on Thursday and Friday mornings from 10am to 12.30pm at the old St Cuthberts Church in Manaia, and on Thursday afternoon, there will be a clinic in the Stratford War Memorial car park between 1.30 and 3.30pm.

On Friday afternoon, a testing clinic will be held in the Kaponga Town Hall in Kaponga, between 1.30pm and 3pm.