Get tested for COVID-19, even outside Melbourne

THE latest coronavirus lockdown restrictions do not apply to Geelong and surrounds, but the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is still urging everyone to get tested if they have any of the symptoms, no matter how mild.

As of Tuesday afternoon, there were eight locations in the Geelong region offering tests, according to the DHHS website.

They are:

• Barwon Health’s clinic in Norlane
• University Hospital Geelong in central Geelong
• The GP Respiratory Clinic in Ocean Grove
• 4Cyte Pathology in Newcomb
• The Kardinia Health clinic in Belmont
• Torquay Community Health Centre in Torquay
• Great Ocean Health’s facilities in Lorne and Apollo Bay.

A pop-up testing site at The Globe Theatre in Winchelsea has now closed.

Please phone ahead before visiting a testing site, unless you choose to be tested at a drive-through testing site.

If there are no clinics listed near you, contact your doctor, local community health service or local hospital for assistance. Make sure you phone ahead and discuss your symptoms before you visit in person.

If you feel unwell with any symptoms of coronavirus, however mild, you should stay home and get tested. If you have any fever, chills, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, runny nose, and loss of sense of smell or taste – stay home, don’t go in to work and don’t visit friends and family. Get tested and stay at home until you get the result.

For more advice or to find out where to be tested, phone the 24-hour hotline on 1800 675 398, head to dhhs.vic.gov.au/getting-tested-coronavirus-covid-19 or phone your local GP.