Queenstown Medical Centre, WellSouth primary health network, and the Southern District Health Board (SDHB) are working together to provide free COVID-19 drop-in testing clinics in central Queenstown next week.

The clinics are aimed at improving access to testing for people working in the hospitality, tourism and service sectors. This includes restaurant and bar staff, cleaning staff, as well as taxi/uber and bus drivers, airport workers and others who may have had contact with people traveling from outside the South Island.

These are walk-in clinics - no appointment is needed – and testing is for people with or without symptoms.

“We want to help ensure that COVID swabbing is convenient and accessible to workers in the Queenstown area,” SDHB Medical Officer of Health Dr. Susan Jack said. “If COVID-19 has made its way to our community, we can find it and stamp it out quickly.

The clinics are part of continued surveillance testing taking place across the Southern district and around the country.

WellSouth has delivered more than 20 pop-up surveillance testing events in the Southern region in the past six months. In some instances there have been a few dozen tests while in others more than 1000 swabs were taken. In recent weeks there has been pop up testing in Gore, Balclutha, and Oamaru.

“We’ve twice conducted surveillance testing in Frankton – once in April and again in August – and the Queenstown Lakes community have been tremendously supportive and eager to help,” WellSouth CEO Andrew Swanson Dobbs said. “I’m sure we will again have a good turn out from service and hospitality workers taking this opportunity for free, easy-to-access COVID-19 testing.”

Queenstown Medical Centre CEO Ashley Light said he expects Queenstown workers will take advantage of the free testing.

“The health and well-being of our population is a priority and getting a large number of workers tested will send a strong message of confidence to the rest of the country,” he said.

The Queenstown COVID-19 testing clinics will be held at the Village Green, Camp Street, at 8am to 6pm Monday September 14 to Thursday September 17.

PHOTO: Supplied