Community Testing Centre Experienced Enormous Pressure Amid the Newest Community Breakout

During the past three days, Ōtara Community Testing Centre became one of the busiest spots of Auckland, despite there was a Level-3 COVID restriction.

This testing centre, looked after by South Seas Healthcare since April 4, 2020, processed nearly 2k swabs in three days. The sudden surge of test started from the afternoon of Sunday, 14th February, following the government announced that there were three new community cases in South Auckland. The staff continued working until 10pm to clear up the long queue, even though it was supposed to close at 8pm.

The decision of lockdown pushed the demand of test to a new level on Monday, when this dry city witnessed the heaviest rainfall of the past few months. The queue stretched for nearly 400 metres from the entrance on Bairds Road.

During this high-pressure situation, South Seas doubled the staff to accelerate processing speed. The team also established collaborations with other information platforms to update the public.

The team at the testing centre kept working until 8pm before going home and they processed over 400 vehicles and 985 swabs in a single day. This was the highest processing number since its establishment.

In the process of operation, the team showed a highly professional and extremely resilient manner.

Until now, a steady stream of vehicles is lining up at the car park area for tests.