Long wait times at NSW Covid testing sites as cases and close contacts surge

People in New South Wales are facing lengthy queues at Covid-19 testing clinics ahead of the busy Christmas period.

Hundreds of thousands of people have undergone testing in the last week as cases rise across the state with 2,213 new infections on Friday.

On Thursday 127,583 people were tested, a slight dip from 143,938 the day before. But many were left waiting for long periods before getting swabbed.

One man was in and out of the Sydney International Airport clinic in 10 minutes on Monday, with a result back in 10 hours. But a woman who went to the same clinic on Thursday waited 45 minutes for a test and was yet to get a result at Friday lunchtime.

People have also turned to rapid antigen tests, but they are flying off shelves faster than many places can restock them. Pharmacies across Sydney said they had zero or very few left when called by Guardian Australia. Some people struggled to find the tests in stores, while others reported they were easy to find, though costly.