My day has been consumed with the so-called tsunami of COVID cases that are appearing in the community at the moment. The endless media reports confirm that the COVID testing systems are under enormous strain and close to collapse.
Victoria had over 14,000 confirmed cases yesterday, and those numbers are set to increase. With this growing number of cases, PCR (polymerase chain reaction) testing sites are overwhelmed, and there are no rapid antigen tests (RAT) to be found anywhere.
It is not only the lack of tests that is the problem, the way in pathology labs are doing their testing has changed. With so many positive tests, pathology labs have moved from batch processing tests to processing each test individually. Unfortunately, they can't keep up and are now closing testing sites to process the backlog.
We are getting close to a situation where most people will have to diagnose and manage their COVID themselves. I am sure that if I get any COVID symptoms, then all I need do is assume I have COVID and isolate at home. I hope that the dreaded COVID lurgy stays away long enough for me to get my booster vaccine on Thursday.
Victoria had over 14,000 confirmed cases yesterday, and those numbers are set to increase. With this growing number of cases, PCR (polymerase chain reaction) testing sites are overwhelmed, and there are no rapid antigen tests (RAT) to be found anywhere.
It is not only the lack of tests that is the problem, the way in pathology labs are doing their testing has changed. With so many positive tests, pathology labs have moved from batch processing tests to processing each test individually. Unfortunately, they can't keep up and are now closing testing sites to process the backlog.
We are getting close to a situation where most people will have to diagnose and manage their COVID themselves. I am sure that if I get any COVID symptoms, then all I need do is assume I have COVID and isolate at home. I hope that the dreaded COVID lurgy stays away long enough for me to get my booster vaccine on Thursday.
