The National Cabinet decision to move away from PCR tests and towards the RATs without a national stockpile has caused huge shortages nationwide and prices being jacked up to as much as $30 a test in some places.
RATs have become virtually impossible to find across Shepparton, with AMCAL+ Pharmacy’s Melvin Deo saying people were calling and turning up in droves asking for RATs.
He said the pharmacy had no stock of RATs and could not get any supply of them, which was frustrating considering the high demand.
Mr Deo said his situation was reflected across most pharmacies in Shepparton.
“There are a lot of desperate people who want tests and don’t really have a way to do it,” he said.
GV Health’s Shepparton Showgrounds testing clinic shut before 9am on Tuesday and the McIntosh Centre vaccination hub had to turn away people who had just become eligible for boosters who turned up before its regular Tuesday 1pm opening time.
A GV Health spokesperson said the centre wasn’t talking walk-ups for booster shots and people needed to book online.
The testing shortage comes as the COVID-19 positivity rate — the percentage of tests that are returned positive — again spiked across the state.
Greater Shepparton recorded 65 new cases of coronavirus, with Victorian coronavirus response commander Jeroen Weimar saying Victoria’s official case number of 14,020 was well below the actual figure.
“We would expect there to be far more positive cases out in the community, either people who have not yet come forward to get tested, or those who just can’t get into the testing system,” Mr Weimar said.
More than 500 people are in hospital and 108 people are in intensive care.
Acting Premier Jacinta Allan did not rule out putting more “common sense” restrictions in place to slow the spread of the virus as hospital numbers rose.
Testing sites across the state have also been forced to close due to overwhelming demand for testing and staff shortages due to the holiday period.
