Services shut down as Covid cleansing done

The temporary closure of the Drake Road clinic in Nahoon and the Beacon Bay police station last week has left staffers anxious and afraid, and thousands of residents without medical and policing services.

The closures mean people who would normally seek service at the police station and the clinic will have to go long distances to get services from other areas, according to those who have been turned away.

The clinic and police station are being decontaminated after staff members tested positive for Covid-19 at both places.

The clinic closed its doors at the end of last month. Staff at the police station were sent messages at the weekend telling them not to come to work until further notice.

An administrative staffer at the police station, who spoke to the Dispatch anonymously, said there were about 70 staffers there on any given day so a large number could be infected.

The staffer said management had told them to self-quarantine and they should pay for their own Covid-19 tests before resuming work.

“Not all of us have money to do private tests and we know how sophisticated our pubic health system is.

“We are not even told who or how many colleagues have been infected. We are now at risk of taking this infection to our homes,” the staffer said.

“This is a police station. We are government employees and we should be tested by the health department for free.

“We should have been told to quarantine after testing for Covid-19.”

Another staffer said it was fair that they stayed in quarantine but tests should be paid for by the employer.

“What if I come back to work and then I get a phone call that I am positive? That will put so many people at risk,” she said.

Councillor Jason McDowell, whose ward includes the Drake Road clinic, said people who visited it between June 1 and the weekend had been told to phone private doctors or go to another public health centre.

Police had not responded to a query about the Beacon Bay station by print deadline yesterday.