The Malcolm Street testing centre has been open for almost a year, administering thousands of PCR swabs and handing out tens of thousands of RAT tests.
Its use peaked during the February outbreak when queues stretched down the road and 845 swabs were administered on the busiest day.
But the centre was now winding down operations and would close its doors on December 16, WellSouth said in a statement.
WellSouth Clinical Director Dr Carol Atmore said RAT tests were the primary method of testing for Covid and were available at more than 50 locations across the district, including 16 community sites in Dunedin.
PCR testing and supervised RAT tests would remain available in general practices.
“Covid continues to circulate in our community and will likely increase as people move around over the holiday period. It is really important for people to have tests and masks on hand, to test if they have cold and flu-like symptoms or if they are a household contact. It is also really important to report a positive RAT test result.
"This helps us to capture the spread of the virus and Covid positive patients qualify for funded care – including, in some cases, oral antiviral medications,” Dr Atmore said.
Clinical Lead Bevan Taiaroa said the centre's location near the tertiary precinct and Dunedin Hospital were vital in supporting people to access Covid testing and helping reduce the spread of the virus.
“December 6 was our first day open and we did 23 swabs, but in the early days of the outbreak in February in Dunedin that increased to 845 in one day – 3718 for the week. We had queues of cars and walk-in clients stretching 400 metres down the road.
“When RAT testing initially took off we were dispensing 2000-3000 RATs per day. Now, it’s more like 10 a day.”
The Malcolm Street testing site is one of the last to close: Awarua Whānau Services closed its testing centre in Invercargill earlier this month while Te Kaika’s testing and immunisation centres in South Dunedin and Queenstown closed earlier in the year. The Engage Safety CTC in Frankton also closed this week.
