A new federally-funded respiratory clinic to treat suspected coronavirus patients has opened at the Palmerston GP Super Clinic.

It’s expected to take locals experiencing fever, cough, sore throats or respiratory problems in an effort to avoid the risk of infection to the wider community, Senator Sam McMahon said in a statement.

“I encourage anyone in our community experiencing these symptoms to call the clinic or go online to book an appointment,” Ms McMahon said.

“The Federal Government has been working with local GPs and Aspen Medical – which has significant health emergency management experience in Australia and overseas – to rollout the Palmerston clinic.”

The new clinic is funded by the Federal Government’s $2.4 billion health package to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It’s part of up to 100 GP-led respiratory clinics being established across the country for patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 symptoms. It’s expected the clinic will reduce pressure on RDH and other local general practices.

Federal Regional Health Minister Mark Coulton said in a statement that the Palmerston clinic, which opened late yesterday, was part of the Australian Government’s response to the outbreak.

“We are putting in place a range of measures including additional practice incentives and the expansion of telehealth to enable the rural medical workforce to continue to care for rural people,” Mr Coulton said.

The government said more than 260 fever clinics, jointly funded by the Commonwealth and State and Territory governments, are also in operation across Australia.

To access a clinic, people are beimg told to visit health.gov.au and use the online booking system.

The Federal Government have released the following tips:

People with severe symptoms should call 000 and/or attend the nearest hospital emergency department.

• People with mild to moderate respiratory symptoms will need to make an appointment either online via booking links available at health.gov.au or over the phone if the clinic has made a local phone booking arrangement available.
• It is important that people attend the clinic only at the time of their booking so that social distancing can be maintained, and they may be asked to wait in their car until the clinic is ready to receive them.
• People will be assessed by a GP or a nurse under the supervision of a GP and have a specimen taken for pathology testing if that is indicated.
• Regardless of whether a test is undertaken, the person will receive clinical advice on how to manage their symptoms and an initial follow-up phone call or text message with test results and to check on how they are going.
• After people have visited the clinic, they will remain eligible to continue to consult their regular GP using the MBS telehealth items.