The City of Logan has been going through sparatic outbreaks of COVID-19 and with the situation seemingly getting worse the ease of testing has become even more important.
On September 1, drive through testing became available at the Eagleby Community Association Inc. by Medlab Pathology.
Medlab is Australia’s largest privately owned independent pathology practices and had already been operating two other sites before setting up this new one.
Medlab approached Logan City Council regarding access to council owned properties to safely operate a drive through testing centre. Council choose the Eagleby Community Association/Eagleby Aquatic Centre due to the pool being closed for the season meaning the car park with mostly clear and safe for motorists.
However after only three days of the testing centre opening its doors, they have now closed and will not be returning. This leaves the closest testing facility in Beenleigh at Sullivan Nicolaides on City Road.
The General Manager of Medlab advised council their decision to cease operations from this location is due to the behaviour of members of the public and the risk to his staff.
Councillor for Division 12 Karen Murphy said unfortunately we’ve had some residents that have gone down and harassed the staff and been quite unpleasant and the general manager of Medlab had discussions with council staff and decided to cease doing COVID testing at the property.
“I believe Medlab may set up further down the road at Pimpama however from a Division 12 aspect there’s no drive through COVID testing that I’m aware of”.
When asked if council are trying to keep them in Logan and put them at another community centre, Cr Murphy replied, “no as it is a private enterprise and they approached us and we felt it was a good idea and we gave all due respect as to where we positioned them.
“Obviously the pool was shut down because of the season; it was a safe entry and exit point for the car side of things if we had a queue.
“The community centre was fantastic as they allowed the staff to use the toilets and facilities and it is just unfortunate that we have had a few individuals that felt they could take it upon themselves to be not so obliging which is really disappointing”.
While police were not involved in the situation and no person was physically assaulted however the harassment was extreme enough to shut down something that was really helpful to the local community.
“It was not a council decision to shut it down, it was Medlabs decision to cease the testing at that site”, finished Cr Murphy.
