Dr Graham said demand for Covid-19 tests at the Invercargill and Dunedin CBACs had also fallen.
However, Queenstown was now recording the lowest number of tests of the three.
Part of the reason for the decline was because a large number of general practices had taken over the testing.
“As well, we know the general practices in this area [Queenstown] have excellent capacity to test.
“Queenstown will be the first to close and it might be within a week.”
However, there were caveats, he said.
For a CBAC to be shut anywhere in Otago and Southland, there would need to be sufficient capacity in general practices to do the tests; access to testing would have to be free; and people would need to be aware of its availability.
Dr Graham said the most important proviso was CBACs would need to have the ability to “gear up” again quickly and respond to a large number of tests in a short time.
“A rest-home with a positive case of Covid-19 might be the biggest risk of this scenario.”
At the height of the Covid crisis, about 70 tests a day were being done in the Invercargill CBAC, about 60 in Queenstown and about 100 in Dunedin.
WellSouth senior communications adviser Moira Finn said the numbers were now minimal.
WellSouth was continuing to consider and provide other options for community-based testing, including the pop-up surveillance swabbing that had been conducted in recent weeks, she said.
