Covid-19 testing centre closed by vandalism
A community provider is gutted to have to close Invercargill’s mass Covid-19 testing and vaccination centre because of vandalism.
Awarua Wha¯nau Services general manager Amy de Vries said the team made the difficult decision to close the centre a month earlier than planned after the windows on two of the cabins were smashed and a generator was stolen.
‘‘We were there to serve the community in a time of need and it is gutting that we didn’t get to close on our terms,’’ de Vries said.
While these items could have been repaired and replaced, it would have been expensive and there was a risk that it would simply happen again, she said. ‘‘That is why we shut all of a sudden. ‘‘We were left with not many other options. We decided we were done.’’
The damage was done somewhere between Friday night and Saturday morning but there were no security cameras at the site.
This was the first time the site had been vandalised, de Vries said.
The mass drive-through testing and vaccination centre was opened in the Newfield Tavern car park in Invercargill, in partnership with WellSouth, in December last year, ahead of New Zealand’s Omicron outbreak.
It provided PCR testing but also distributed rapid antigen tests once the Ministry of Health moved to using these as its main testing method.
The centre was due to be wound down at the end of this month as the number of people using the site was dropping off, de Vries said.
It employed 20 full-time staff and a pool of 12 casual workers but as plans were already in place to shut, they had all been supported into other jobs, she said.
De Vries said Awarua Wha¯nau Services was still gathering quotes to determine the exact cost of the damage.
A WellSouth spokesperson said Covid-19 tests and vaccinations were still available at general practices and pharmacies around Southland while the mass vaccination centre at the Invercargill Civic Theatre remained operational.