SWAN Hill District Health (SHDH) has tested close to 300 people for coronavirus during the past three days as the testing blitz continues in the community.
Attendances at the acute respiratory assessment clinic surged from Monday, with an increase on the clinic's average daily presentation of 11 per day prior to the blitz.
Testing will continue tomorrow and Sunday, between 11am and 4pm, due to the high number of attendances.
More than 100 referrals were also received for mobile testing on vulnerable patients throughout the week where it was deemed not suitable for them to attend the clinic.
Groups targeted for testing include community members with even mild respiratory symptoms (such as runny nose, scratchy throat), construction, supermarket, healthcare, corrections and emergency services workers and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, regardless of whether they had symptoms or not.
Those who are showing no symptoms at the time of testing are not required to self-isolate.
The clinic at 28 High Street remains open and people are encouraged to attend the clinic to be assessed, with even mild symptoms.
SHDH chief executive officer Peter Abraham said the testing would assist in providing a clearer indication of the prevalence of the virus in our region.
"This testing blitz has been undertaken at the request of the Victorian Government to gather data around the true prevalence of COVID-19 in our community," he said.
"The Swan Hill community has played their part in building the evidence base for the government to make the most informed decisions they can.
"Our dedicated staff have worked overtime to complete this testing blitz and we thank them for their ongoing work and commitment to their community during this pandemic.
"I'd also like to once again thank the Swan Hill community for their support of our health service and their work to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in our community.
"This pandemic is ongoing and we continue to ask our community to follow directions from the government around curbing the spread of COVID-19 and stay clean, stay kind to one another and stay home until advised otherwise."
SHDH also reminded people that they are still there if people need them.
"Please do not delay accessing medical care if you require it," Mr Abraham said.
"Our health service is safe to visit and we continue to implement best practice measures to ensure the ongoing safety of our staff and patients."
It comes as Victoria experienced another spike, recording 14 new cases.
The state now has 1454 total cases, 105 of which are active.
Swan Hill has zero confirmed active cases of COVID-19.
