Sarah Courtney,Minister for Health
Mobile testing units will be sent to a number of regional centres in Tasmania during January to help lift the statewide testing rate as part of the Government's commitment to the health, safety and wellbeing of Tasmanians.
To help boost testing numbers, the mobile clinics program will run over a series of four weekends commencing 9 January 2021 in St Helens, Swansea, Strahan, Queenstown and Smithton.
Four of the mobile clinics will run across Friday/Saturday to offer a weekday and weekend day option.
The proposed timetable is as follows:
Round 1
9-10 January 2021 St Helens
Round 2
15 January 2021 Strahan
16 January 2021 Queenstown
Round 3
22-23 January 2021 Swansea
Round 4
29-30 January 2021 Smithton
Mobile Clinics are a key component of the Tasmanian COVID-19 Testing Strategy, which is aimed at increasing access to testing and increasing testing numbers across the State.
The four clinics in the major population centres will continue to operate seven days a week. Their hours of operations are:
* Thursday 31 December (Hobart, Launceston and Burnie) – 8:30am to 3.30pm
* Thursday 31 December (East Devonport) - 7.30am to 2.30pm
* Friday 1 January (all clinics) – 8:30am to 11:30am
These clinics will return to normal operating times from 2 January. They are 8:30am to 3:30pm for Hobart, Launceston and Burnie and 7:30am to 2:30pm for East Devonport.
Everyone should remain vigilant for symptoms over the holiday period, isolate themselves if unwell, and go to a testing clinic or speak to their GP to get tested.
We continue to thank Tasmanians for their ongoing vigilance and for continuing to do the right thing and get tested, even with mild symptoms.
