Sarah Courtney,Minister for Health
The health, safety and wellbeing of Tasmanians is the Government’s number one priority as we continue through the recovery phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Continuing to achieve a high testing rate is really important to ensure we are closely monitoring, and able to quickly identify, COVID-19 in our community.
I’m pleased to report Tasmania has now delivered more than 83,000 tests – a huge effort. This total is nearly equally split between the north and south of the state, so Tasmanians are to be congratulated for their willingness and proactivity in seeking a test if they feel unwell, but we need to keep this up.
Our ability to rapidly identify and respond to any future clusters or cases will help us minimise any transmission. We have new capacity in our labs and testing clinics to respond to testing demand. This means we have the surge capacity of up to 1800 tests a day.
I’d like to thank the many nurses and staff across the State who continue to go above and beyond to staff our clinics, including braving wintery conditions to deliver this vital service.
Tasmanians can arrange an appointment by contacting the Public Health Hotline on 1800 671 738 or by contacting their GP.
If you have any symptoms such as a sniffle, fever, cough, sore or scratchy throat or shortness of breath it’s really important to go and get tested.
