Chaotic scenes at testing centre in Covid hotspot with just two employees on duty as essential workers - including doctors and nurses - queue for EIGHT HOURS to get swab now required to leave the area
Thousands of residents in the Covid hotspot of southwest Sydney have been forced to queue for up to eight hours to get a coronavirus test now required to leave the area under a new edict from the New South Wales government.
Residents in the Fairfield local government area who work outside the region must now get tested every three days in a desperate effort to curb the city's Covid-19 horror outbreak.
However the preparations for the testing onslaught appeared to be inadequate, with understaffing meaning there was a queue outside the 24-hour testing centre at Fairfield Showground which stretched back for kilometres from 6am on Wednesday.
Many locals slept in their cars as they queued to be tested overnight while many residents who live in the area could not exit their driveways due to the traffic bedlam.
There were also reports of police turning locals away at the drive-through clinic late Tuesday night because there were just two health workers conducting tests.
It was a stark contrast to Sydney's east on Wednesday morning, where only a trickle of cars were waiting in line at a drive-through clinic at Heffron Park in Maroubra.
The long queues across Fairfield were expected to continue through the day, despite workers leaving the area having another three days to get their first swab.
Residents are waiting up to eight hours in the queue at the Fairfield Showground drive-through testing clinic. Pictured is the traffic chaos on Wednesday
Fairfield workers arrived in droves following orders to be tested every three days, sparking traffic chaos near a 24 hour testing centre early Wednesday morning
Wayne was one of the locals who joined the queue at Fairfield Showground at 1am but gave up three hours later because he had to rush to work.
'The guy told me there was still a four-hour wait at that hour,' he told 2GB breakfast host Ben Fordham.
Another frustrated local who queued up to be tested on his way to work told the Today Show at 7am he'd be in the line for three hours already.
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Fairfield mayor Frank Carbone described the scenes as chaos as he slammed the new rules announced by the NSW government a day earlier.
'These are people that want to get tested, these are doctors and nurses, people that help our community, they work far and wide and these are essential workers,' Mr Carbone told the Today show on Wednesday.
'The mandated plan where people need to get tested two times a week, once every three days, was very badly thought out.
'We need more testing clinics, we need more vaccines. The government needs to listen to the community. People can't get out of their cars, people cannot sleep and people cannot get tested, most importantly.'
It's estimated around 45,000 local residents work outside the Fairfield LGA, which is home to a population of 180,000.
Residents didn't have to wait long to be tested at Maroubra's Heffron Park on Wednesday
An aerial shot of Smithfield Road early Wednesday morning showed the queue for the testing clinic at Fairfield Showground stretching for kilometres
Thousands of Fairfield locals queued to be tested on their way to work on Wednesday, even though they have another three days to do so
The Fairfield Showground testing clinic is struggling with the overwhelming demand from locals who work outside the LGA, who have until the end of Friday to get tested.
Mr Carbone said the long queues were not just chaotic but potentially dangerous as it meant people who had Covid symptoms could not access a test.
'Yesterday, I got complaints from people who were sick who want to get tested, who can't afford to wait six hours in a queue and have gone home,' he said.
'It's unfortunate that the government has done this. I don't think they understood the magnitude of it and I don't think they understood the amount of essential workers we have in Fairfield.'
Today show host Karl Stefanovic was shocked by the scenes and claims locals are waiting up to eight hours to be tested.
'This is absolutely disgusting for the people of Fairfield that they have to wait that long at a testing clinic,' he said.
'It is not good enough for the people of Fairfield.
'They're doing the right thing this morning and they're being badly let down.'
New Covid-19 testing rules- what you need to know
New COVID-19 testing rules are in place under a Public Health Order for workers who live in Greater Sydney and the Fairfield local government areas.
*Fairfield LGA residents leaving the area for work must get tested every three days
*Residents have until the end of end of Friday (July 16) to get their first test
*Rule doesn't apply to Fairfield residents who work in the LGA
*Workers are not required to wait for a negative test result but must carry proof of the test such as an SMS or email.
*Greater Sydney residents entering regional NSW for work must get a test every seven days and have until the end of Sunday to get their first test
Co-host Allison Langdon later grilled Prime Minister Scott Morrison over the chaotic scenes.
'These are people who've come off 12-hour shifts, then waiting six hours for a test,' she told the prime minister.
'How is this good enough, the situation we're seeing in Fairfield this morning?'
Mr Morrison replied: 'I'm sure the NSW government, who is running the testing regimes there, will get on top of that.'
Residents in the Sydney's east didn't have to wait as long for a test on Wednesday morning. Pictured is Heffron Park in Maroubra
Locals are waiting up to eight hours to be tested at Fairfield Showground, where the testing clinic is now open 24 hours. Pictured is the traffic queue
Health workers are working around the clock to test thousands of residents at the Fairfield Showground drive-through clinic
Many essential workers who live in the Fairfield LGA are coming off 12-hour shifts and are then waiting eight hours to be tested. Pictured are the testing queues on Wednesday
NSW treasurer Dominic Perrottet apologised to the Fairfield community on behalf of the state government.
'We working to get more testing into Fairfield,' he told 2GB.
Mr Perrottet reminded locals they had until Saturday to get tested and can leave the Fairfield LGA while they're waiting for test results, as long as they don't have any symptoms.
The rule doesn't apply to residents who don't need to leave the local government area for work.
A second 24 hour pop-up drive-through clinic was soon set up at nearby Endeavor Sports Park carpark in Fairfield West in response to the overwhelming demand.
Sydney's lockdown is expected to be extended into a fourth week after NSW recorded 89 new cases on Tuesday, following 112 new infections a day earlier.
Most of Tuesday's new cases were recorded in Sydney's south-west.
Traffic queues along Smithfield Road stretched for kilometres on Wednesday morning
Fairfield mayor Frank Carbone described the scenes near Fairfield Showground as chaos