EXTRA COVID-19 testing appointments are opening up to meet a spike in demand under the encroaching threat of the deadly virus spreading in western Victoria.
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UFS, which runs the city's free testing site, has confirmed it has opened an extra room for testing on Thursday to ensure there were still appointments available ahead of the weekend.
This comes as Geelong Advertiser is reporting people waiting up to five hours for a COVID-19 test in queues outside screening clinics in the neighbouring city.
A UFS spokesperson said the situation could change quickly and the not-for-profit was working to best respond to testing demand as it fluctuated in the region.
Cases have cropped up close to Ballarat with a teacher at Bacchus Marsh Grammar infected by the highly-contagious Delta strain of the virus after attending a football match with his friend at the MCG at the weekend.
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The teacher, who lives in Barwon Heads, has two family members who have now tested positive from the virus.
In turn, this has turned Barwon Heads Football Club into a tier one exposure site while Bacchus Marsh Grammar's campuses and Barwon Heads Primary School have been temporarily closed.
More than 100 people have also been in isolation after the Ballan Mobile service station, west-bound on the Western Freeway, was named a tier one exposure site earlier this week.
Anyone with an appointment for a test must enter the site from Doveton Street South.
The site also houses vaccinations, under separate UFS operations, off Dana Street.
Anyone with signs of respiratory illness is urged to get a COVID-19 test.
To book, call 4311 1571 or go online, ufs.com.au.
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