The Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney has scrapped its PCR testing requirements for pregnant women in favour of rapid antigen tests.
Many maternity wards had previously been asking women to get a PCR Test every 72 hours from week 38 of their pregnancy.
NSW Health intervened and told all public maternity wards to scrap asymptomatic PCR testing requirements and asked the private sector to do the same after the Premier said this "shouldn't happen".
"No one who is pregnant should be sitting in long queues, I spoke to the Health Minister this morning and asked him to fix it," Premier Dominic Perrottet said earlier this week.
A Sydney Local Health District spokesperson said the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital had since changed the testing requirements.
"Royal Prince Alfred Hospital offers Rapid Antigen Testing (RAT) for pregnant women and their Partners in Care who attend the hospital and for those who attend Women and Babies," a spokesperson said.
"The process adopted by RPA is consistent across the state.
"RPA has a Priority Access Pathway for its COVID-19 Testing Clinic if a PCR test is required."
Health Minister Brad Hazzard said on Tuesday the government was working with private hospitals that require pregnant women to queue for frequent COVID-19 tests.
"I've asked NSW Health to work with those private hospitals to convert them from PCR tests to rapid antigen tests," he said.
Testing queues across NSW have been plagued by long lines, with people reportedly turned away after clinics reach capacity.
The testing rate fell significantly in the state yesterday, with just over 97,000 people getting tested.
Testing clinics across Sydney look like carparks as people queue for PCR tests today.
How Australia faced the emergence of the Omicron variant
Some sites like Maroubra had cars lining up for hours before the clinic even opened.
Tags:
News