There are currently four coronavirus testing clinics operating at hospitals in our Local Health District.
• It is important to remember that many people with symptoms similar to COVID-19 will not have the virus. Only suspected cases are tested to ensure our labs are able to cope with the demand. There is no need to test people who feel well and do not meet the criteria above.
Coronavirus clinics are accessed from outside the hospitals. Please do not walk through the hospital.
- Blue Mountains Hospital (education unit): 9:00am to 5:00pm, 7 days a week
- Lithgow Hospital (via main entrance): 10:00am to 3:00pm, 7 days a week
- Nepean Hospital: (via West Block entrance) 10:30am to 6:00pm, 7 days a week
- Hawkesbury Hospital (mobile clinic van):10:00am to 3:00pm, Monday to Friday
The operating hours for the clinics may change to meet demand.
These clinics are for people who:
- have returned from overseas in the past 14 days and develop respiratory illness with or without fever
- have been in close contact with a confirmed COVID-19 case in the past 14 days and develop respiratory illness with or without fever
- have severe community-acquired pneumonia and there is no clear cause
- are a healthcare worker, working directly with patients, and have a respiratory illness and a fever
Every patient who is tested at one of these clinics will be contacted with their results. This may take up to 7 days depending on demand.
Patients must stay in home isolation until they receive their test results and notify their GP of any information given.
Private Pathology Labs in our region
- Hawkesbury: ACL, Hawkesbury District Health Service, 2 Day St Windsor. Ph: 4560 5443
- Hawkesbury: Douglass Hanley Moir and Barratt and Smith, 310 George Street
Windsor NSW Ph: 1800 062 622
Douglass Hanley Moir and Barratt and Smith now have a central booking number for all COVID-19 testing. The patient must have a GP referral and call 1800 062 622 for booking. Testing at Penrith and Springwood locations are no longer available.
Access links to local Private Pathology Labs.
COVID-19 Case Definition and testing advice
This information was last updated by NSW Health on 26 March:
Confirmed Case
A person who tests positive to a validated specific SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid test or has the virus identified by electron microscopy or viral culture, at a reference laboratory.
Probable Case
A person with fever (≥38°C)1 or history of fever (e.g. night sweats, chills) OR acute respiratory infection (e.g. cough, shortness of breath, sore throat) AND who is a household contact of a confirmed case of COVID-19, where testing has not been conducted.
Suspect Case criteria
A person who meets the following epidemiological and clinical criteria:
| Epidemiological criteria |
Clinical criteria |
Action |
|
Very high risk
- Close contact (see Contact definition below) in the 14 days prior to illness onset with a confirmed case
- International travel in the 14 days prior to illness onset
- Cruise ship passengers and crew who have travelled in the 14 days prior to illness onset
|
Fever (≥38°C)1 or history of fever OR acute respiratory infection (e.g. cough, shortness of breath, sore throat) |
Test 2 |
|
High risk setting
- Two or more cases of illness clinically consistent with COVID-19 (see clinical criteria) in the following settings:
- Aged care and other residential care facilities
- Military operational settings
- Boarding school
- Correctional facilities
- Detention centres
- Aboriginal rural and remote communities, in consultation with the local PHU
- Settings where COVID-19 outbreaks have occurred, in consultation with the local PHU
- Individual patients with illness clinically consistent with COVID-19 (see clinical criteria) in a geographically localised area with elevated risk of community transmission, as defined by PHUs
|
Fever (≥38°C)1 or history of fever (e.g. night sweats, chills) OR acute respiratory infection (e.g. cough, shortness of breath, sore throat) |
Test (on site for aged care residents, where feasible) |
|
Moderate risk
- Healthcare workers, aged or residential care workers
|
Fever (≥38°C)1 or history of fever (e.g. night sweats, chills) OR acute respiratory infection (e.g. cough, shortness of breath, sore throat) |
Test |
| Background risk (No epidemiological risk factors) |
Hospitalised patients with fever (≥38°C)1 AND acute respiratory symptoms (e.g. cough, shortness of breath, sore throat)3 of an unknown cause |
Test |
1. It is recommended that temperature is measured using a tympanic, oral or other thermometer proven to consistently and accurately represent core body temperature.
2. Testing household contacts of confirmed cases of COVID-19 may not be indicated where resources are constrained. These cases would be considered ‘probable cases’ (see definition above).
3. Clinical judgement should be exercised in testing hospitalised patients. All patients should attend an emergency department if clinical deterioration occurs.
*Country transmission risk assessment
This list is based on the risk of the person having been exposed to COVID-19 due to travel to a country with sustained community transmission and/or based on the patterns of travel between those countries and Australia, and/or the other epidemiological evidence.