Businesses at ‘boiling point’

BRISBANE businesses are at “boiling point” over Covid testing clinic queues that have blocked customers and, in one case in Murarrie, seen people defecating on the side of the road.

It comes as queues at clinics blew out again on Thursday, with some people facing wait times in excess of three hours, while the anticipated influx of rapid antigen tests – which would allow people to test themselves at home – has failed to materialise.

Health Minster Yvette D’Ath said the Queensland government had been promised by an overseas supplier they could have 500,000 RATs, but had on Wednesday night been told only 150,000 were available.

She said, of the few RATs that were able to be handed out on Thursday, they would run out quickly.

“I expect that 39,000 will probably run out in a matter of hours, if not a couple of days and we will have to wait for the next supply to arrive,” she said.

As testing queues take hours to get through, one automotive retail business claimed to have had “virtually no customers all week” due to queues preventing access.

Business manager Robert

Dolley said workers have had to park kilometres away just to be able to walk into work.

Mr Dolley also expressed his frustrations with the behaviour of people in testing queues who are using the local cafe and defecating in gardens.

He said traffic controllers had told him people waiting for Covid tests were going into the gardens and parks to urinate or even defecate.

“We’re already disadvantaged, we don’t need to be walking through people’s urine,” he said.

Queensland Police confirmed officers were investigating a number of incidents and complaints.