One of Ballarat’s largest responses to COVID-19 has officially closed its doors.
After performing nearly 100,000 PCR tests since April 2020, the Dana Street UFS testing clinic has officially wound up operations in line with the Federal Department of Health response.
The Commonwealth Government supported contracts for the services have been discontinued as the virus more and more becomes part of every day life.
PCR tests can still be accessed through a GP, while Rapid Antigen Tests are currently available for free through local councils.
Testing was the last service being offered at the site by UFS, with the clinic winding back its vaccination offering at the end of 2022.
The focus on the tracking of COVID-19 cases is a far cry from what was being experienced when the UFS clinic was operating in 2020 and 2021.
Reporting by the Victorian Government is now weekly rather than daily; Ballarat recorded 72 new cases of COVID in the week ending 24th of February.
In terms of how the virus is impacting our region, for active cases per 100,000 people Ballarat remains on the higher end across the state.