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COVID-19 Screening Clinic to expand testing

Wednesday, March 25, 2020
COVID-19 Screening Clinic to expand testing Bendigo Health's COVID-19 Screening Clinic will expand testing, as directed by the Department of Health and Human Services.
Bendigo Health's COVID-19 Screening Clinic will expand testing. Hospital visitors and patients attending appointments will have their temperature checked.

Bendigo Health has expanded Coronavirus testing for people presenting to the COVID-19 Screening Clinic.

One in every five people presenting to the screening clinic on Stewart Street will now be tested even if they don’t meet the existing testing criteria.

Chief Executive Officer, Peter Faulkner said: “We’ve been requested by the Department of Health and Human Services to test every fifth presentation to our screening clinic in an effort to identify COVID-19 that may not yet be symptomatic to try and identify what the prevalence is across our community generally.”

“If you come to the Screening Clinic because you are unwell but are not tested you should assume you may have the disease and you should be taking all those social isolation and all the personal isolation processes and procedures.”

The Screening Clinic will also test you for COVID-19 if; you have returned from overseas in the last 14 days and are experiencing respiratory symptoms, you have had close contact with someone with confirmed coronavirus infection, you work in healthcare and have fever and respiratory symptoms.

Bendigo Health will also take the temperature of visitors and patients attending the hospital for an appointment.

Anyone presenting to the hospital with a temperature over 37.5 or a fever will be directed to the Screening Clinic.

Chief Medical Officer, Diana Badcock urged the community to prepare for a worst case scenario and begin preparing their homes and family for extended periods of self-isolation.

“I need you to think what social isolation looks like for you,” she said.

“You need to start planning how to organise your house physically for worst can scenario.

“There’s no right or wrong here, it’s a balance between personal safety, the communities’ safety, your physical health and mental health.”