A NEW drive-through coronavirus testing service opened in Tamworth this week, and another local clinic has had a funding extension.
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The announcements come as authorities urge residents across the state to seek out a swab if they have any symptoms of COVID-19, amid a fall in testing rates.
Laverty Pathology Tamworth is operating the city's only drive-through service in the Plain Street carpark at Tamworth's Minor League Park.
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A spokesman for the organisation confirmed the screening service had been set up on a "semi-permanent" basis, and could be accessed by the community for at least the next three months.
The drive-through service opened on Monday and is taking tests between the hours of 7:45am and 3pm every day of the week, except Sunday.
Laverty confirmed no bookings or doctor referrals are required, but there will be a screening process to make sure people getting swabbed are showing symptoms of COVID-19.
The Leader understands the federal government has extended funding for the Tamworth Respiratory Clinic through to March next year.
Funding for the clinic was previously only confirmed up until the end of next month. The Goonoo Goonoo Road service has screened thousands of patients for the virus, since it opened in May.
Tamworth has not recorded a new case of COVID-19 in more than five months, but health authorities warned residents not to become complacent.
Hunter New England Health (HNEH) public health physician Dr David Durrheim warned people to be vigilant with school holidays fast approaching, because the virus is "not worth playing chicken with".
"In our travel plans we need to make sure that we avoid those [hotspot] areas, we also know people from those areas will visit all over NSW ... so it's very important we keep doing the things that have kept us safe so far," he said.
NSW recorded six new cases of COVID-19 in the latest 24-hour testing period, and there were no cases of community transmission for the second day running.
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