In response to the COVID-19 outbreak in Adelaide, the Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service have set up a new mobile COVID-19 testing clinic in Port Douglas.

The temporary clinic is currently situated next to St Mary’s By the Sea Chapel, 8 Dixie St, Port Douglas, and will be operating from today, 18 November between 10:00am and 3:00pm and 9:00am and 3:00pm Thursday and Friday, with the possibility of adding extra days if needed.

Donna Goodman, the Health Incident Controller for Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service said Queensland Health is taking a precautionary approach to catch any potential cases from Adelaide early.

“We welcomed 1300 visitors from South Australia to Cairns over the last week between 9 and 16 November,” she said.

“We have asked those people to get tested and go into self-quarantine because Adelaide has been declared as a hotspot.

“We understood from the interaction we had with a lot of those people yesterday that a large number are tourists and are in tourist locations in Cairns or Port Douglas.”

From 17 November, anyone arriving from Adelaide hotspots are required to go into hotel quarantine.

There is already a drive through testing clinic located at the Mossman Hospital, however, Ms Goodman said the mobile van in Port Douglas will make it easier for tourists, especially those who don’t have vehicles.

To get tested, contact the main COVID fever clinic booking number on (07) 4226-4781 and if the line is busy leave a message and someone will call you back.

Appointments are recommended, in order to reduce waiting times.

Ms Goodman said anybody who has arrived from South Australia between 9 and 16 November, regardless of if they have symptoms, needs to get tested.

Anyone who has not travelled should still get tested if they have even the mildest of symptoms or have come into contact with someone who has.

“We are taking a very precautionary approach and we’re just trying to make sure that if somebody does present with COVID, that we can pick it up very early on in the piece and we can put quarantine measures in place for their close contacts and provide them with the treatment they need.”

Already this morning a number of locals and South Australian visitors have been tested.

“Anyone who has come from Adelaide during the period of concern should be in self-quarantine but we would still encourage locals to keep an eye out for any symptoms that they may develop, if they get any symptoms whatsoever they can contact us and get a COVID test and we will get the results back within 24 hours,” Ms Goodman said.

“If people are concerned about how they can manage quarantine while they are here, there are supports in place.

“If anyone has any questions or concerns, we encourage them to call 13 HEALTH (13 43 25 84),” Ms Goodman said.

For the Port Douglas mobile clinic call (07) 4226-4781.

For the Mossman drive-through fever clinic, call 0459 803 382.

For more info on symptoms and the full list of other testing locations, head to:
www.covid19.qld.gov.au.

For information about current border restrictions, including a detailed Q&A, visit: https://www.qld.gov.au/.../public.../border-restrictions.