Drive-thru coronavirus testing 'needs to be explored': Victorian health chief

Description

Victoria’s Chief Health Officer has backed drive-thru coronavirus testing in the event the virus begins spreading widely in Australia....

Associate Professor Mark Morgan, Chair of the RACGP Expert Committee – Quality Care (REC–QC), told newsGP the concept is an interesting one. 
 
He said GPs will need to innovate to be able to cope with the potential community spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus), especially as every person with cold and flu symptoms may be suspected of having the virus.
 
In 2009, Associate Professor Morgan led a simulated response of a large general practice to the avian flu to investigate how a general practice would cope with the early stages of community spread of pandemic influenza.
 
He and his team developed two techniques that helped with social distancing.
 
The first was a ticket system so patients with flu-like symptoms could wait in their cars in the clinic car park. The second was to seek an arrangement with a local fast food restaurant to use their drive-thru facilities to quickly administer vaccinations.
 
But Associate Professor Morgan suggests the most significant benefit for general practice might be to make telehealth consultations Medicare-funded, enabling advice and triage over the phone.

Subject

Pandemic Planning