With COVID spreading rapidly across the community the government need to make sure people living in rural and regional Tasmania can access tests.
Labor Leader Rebecca White said both community members and business operators needed access to timely testing.
“There is a growing demand from regional parts of the state for access to testing,” Ms White said.
“This is why Labor is today calling on the government to urgently to divert some of the RATs currently available for travellers at airports and make them available in regions where testing is not easily accessible.
“The government says it has secured 500,000 RATs with 2 million more ordered so there is no reason why this couldn’t start today.
“It’s unreasonable to expect people from regional areas to travel hours to a testing clinic at the best of times, especially now when it’s likely they’ll face hours waiting in queues and might even get turned away before they can be tested.
“Our health workers are doing a tremendous job and they need support from the government to continue to keep Tasmanians safe.
“The lack of access to testing, both PCR and RATs, is placing huge stress on individuals and also impacting many businesses who have staff off work who are waiting to access a test.
“The government must act urgently to address these issues so all Tasmanians can get tested when they need to.”
Rebecca White MP
Labor Leader
