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The government will open a drive-through coronavirus testing clinic at EPIC on Friday, Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith has announced. It will be in addition to the dedicated respiratory assessment clinics already operating from the Weston Creek walk-in centre and Canberra Hospital. "The respiratory assessment clinic at the Weston Creek walk-in centre has been experiencing strong demand, so to assist with meeting this demand we will be providing Canberrans with the option for drive through COVID-19 testing at EPIC," Ms Stephen-Smith said. People presenting will still need to check they meet the criteria for testing. "You must also be driving or a passenger of a motor vehicle or motorbike," Ms Stephen-Smith said. "You will not be able to access the drive through testing service from public transport, or as a pedestrian." READ MORE: People presenting to the drive through respiratory assessment clinic will first be screened to ensure they meet the criteria for testing before proceeding by vehicle into the Budawang Pavilion for testing. They will not be required to leave their vehicle. Security and traffic operations will be on site to assist with traffic flow. The drive-through clinic will operate seven days per week, from 9:30am to 6:00pm, and be staffed by nursing and administrative staff from Canberra Health Services. "It's very convenient for people but it also allows that additional element of protection for our health care workers," Ms Stephen-Smith said. "We're pretty confident at this time that we're not seeing community transmission of COVID-19 in the ACT." Australian Medical Association ACT president Antonio Di Dio welcomed the move. "It is an excellent idea and we need to support it," he said. "We have an urgent need for appropriate, targeted testing." You should get tested for COVID-19 if: We have removed our paywall from our stories about the coronavirus. This is a rapidly changing situation and we want to make sure our readers are as informed as possible. If you would like to support our journalists you can subscribe here.

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