9 July 2020
South Australian nurses and doctors who have cared for COVID-19 patients will be prioritised in a new wave of coronavirus testing.
The new tests are part of SA Health's central testing regime to discover the prevalence of the virus within the broader community, ABC Radio Adelaide reports.
SA Pathology's clinical director Tom Dodd states patients about to undergo elective surgery will also get tested as a precaution.
“There are two tests, the swab test which detects an active current infection, and a blood test which detects antibodies which tells you whether the patient has had a past infection as well,’’ Dr Dodd told the ABC.
“So this will give us information about the prevalence of COVID within our population.’’
SA Health is also considering testing travellers coming in from Victoria at checkpoints across the state.