UPDATE 8am Thursday 23 December: All four testing facilities (Mitchell, Kambah, Garran and Nicholls) are already at capacity.

UPDATE 3pm 22 December: The long waits at COVID testing sites across Canberra are starting to ease in the earlier afternoon after both Mitchell and Garran were at capacity earlier today.

The longest time is at Kambah with two and a half hours the expected wait while Mitchell is currently at one and a half hours. Nicholls is down to 45 minutes while Garran is now a comfortable 40 minutes.

Before: Long wait times for a PCR COVID test across Canberra have continued today, as people prepare for the Christmas holidays.

According to the ACT Health, as of 10am this morning, the Mitchell drive through clinic is at capacity while the remaining three sites all have wait times over three hours.

Garran has a wait time of four hours, while Kambah and Nicholls are both three hours and 30 minutes.

With the temperature set to hit 30 degrees in Canberra today, ACT Health are encouraging people to be sun safe when lining up. Bring plenty of water, a hat, sunglasses, sunscreen and maybe a snack as well.

They also advise the peak times for testing are in the morning, late afternoon and evening so are encouraging people to go during the day to avoid waiting longer.

There are also several new COVID exposure sites in the ACT, including Assembly in Braddon, a screening of Spiderman: No Way Home at Hoyts Belconnen and The Capital Mens Club in Fyshwick.

The news comes after the ACT Government reintroduced a mask mandate for all indoor spaces in the Territory yesterday.

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