A second site was opened at Northern Oval with entry via Tisdall Road, adding to the primary site at Kyabram Health and testing will resume at both sites at 10am today.
Kyabram District Health Services' chief executive Anne McEvoy said it had been a busy three days, exceeding last year’s October Shepparton outbreak.
Proximity to the new Shepparton cluster brought with it challenges, according to Ms McEvoy, including prioritising the turnaround of Kyabram-based testing.
Those seeking testing at the two sites had been well behaved, according to Ms McEvoy, but she said she understood some people could become frustrated by the wait times which reportedly grew to two hours.
Instances of people travelling from Shepparton to seek testing had also occurred, according the chief executive, which did not present a danger of transmission due to them remaining in their vehicles.
The outbreak has placed extra-pressure on a range of Kyabram Health resources, including the isolation of some staff who have been exposed to tier one sites in Shepparton, according to Ms McEvoy, and some health services may have to be scaled back this week.
“I don’t see this sort of demand reducing for a few days (and) everyone will need to be retested on day 13. Potentially there may be some services we will need to reduce based on fatigue management,” she said.
The Kyabram Health vaccination clinic has been prioritised and will continue to run.
Ms McEvoy thanked her staff and the community for their response and asked those seeking further information to first check the health services’ social media or with the Victorian Government’s coronavirus hotline on 1800 675 398.
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