Extract from The Guardian
‘How many people could I have infected running around desperately trying to find a test?’ laments one reader. Another feels ‘the government has left us to die’
My mum is 96, lives in aged care and thinks I have abandoned her, because I can’t get a RAT [rapid antigen test]. She does not understand what is going on due to a medium level of dementia. This is tough on families.
Dennis, Hunter Valley
Had enough. Given up. Can’t get tested. Can’t find RATs. Ring the national hotline, go around in circles. Can’t ring 000. For God’s sake, call an election now before the country is totally stuffed.
Marcus, Blue Mountains
Sadly, this isn’t just Australia, it’s a global problem – so I have sympathy for politicians as these issues are mostly global. Our hospital systems will have to cope with it at some point, and I’d rather we do this in summer, when vaccination is at its highest ever we’re likely to achieve, etc. What’s the alternate end game? I don’t see another option and we can’t keep closing down – the wider impact is too great.
Ann, Taree
My
dad is in hospital with end-stage heart failure. He was sent from the
public to the private hospital, I guess to free up his bed, because he
had had multiple heart attacks in three days and the doctors had called
us to bring in the family. At the public hospital we had an exemption
and could come in any time. At the private hospital we had to provide a
negative RAT before we could go in. But we couldn’t find any. Eventually
staff from the hospital administered a RAT so we could go in. Two days
later, Dad’s no longer considered end-of-life so we’ve lost our
exemption status and can’t see him any more.
Grandchildren Hannah and Sophie (left) and daughter Ann (right) visit John in hospital in Taree.
Andrew, Richmond
I can’t get a test. I think I’ve been exposed and have a sore throat. The testing centres are full and I’ve been to 13 pharmacies today looking for a RAT. Scott Morrison should have ordered these RATs. We could have manufactured them here by now. How many people could I have infected running around desperately trying to find a test? Scott Morrison is useless and I’m angry that his arrogant, apathetic attitude is causing more illness and anxiety.
Son, Sydney
The spiralling cases and hospitalisation in NSW are dreadful. I worry for the vulnerable unvaxxed, including young children. My family has people with weakened immune [systems] and severe mental health issues. They will not comprehend self care and iso requirements if they become infected or need care. I have to decide whether to get surgery in a Covid-positive-staffed Sydney hospital or delay for several uncertain months until government action and the Covid surge possibly subsides, as my condition deteriorates.
Claire, Melbourne
I joined a drive-through queue on the Gold Coast after checking opening hours on the Queensland website. The queue was reasonable, with cars slowly moving at a regular pace. After my partner walked up to the front, he came back and said to me, “This queue is leading to nowhere.” We were all queuing in front of a CLOSED testing site. Not a single soul. Yet people in their cars were still queuing, hoping and desperate. The queue was only progressing because some would give up. We went on a mission to tell everyone. But some cars would still stay. Pure Covid-19 madness!
Lisa, north shore, Sydney
Nine-plus day wait for PCR result. Survived stage four melanoma, losing a lung, kidney and other organs so pretty vulnerable to infection and respiratory disease. In isolation all through New Year. This system’s broken.
I cannot believe we are so far into this and this is where we are. No wonder we can’t figure out climate change
Amanda, Brunswick
Symptoms have meant that I’ve not been getting much sleep, so getting up early to get in line and reducing the amount of sleep I’m getting is also not great for recovery. People with symptoms this bad should be told to rest and recover – not go wait in line for multiple hours to get another test.
Diana, Brisbane
It’s only three weeks since the borders opened in Queensland. We have known this was going to happen for months. We went from not catching Covid at almost any cost to “Exposure is a must, get over it. That’s why you got vaccinated” without proper planning for the infrastructure that we would need. Led by donkeys indeed.
Kelly Kershaw, Hillsdale
Lena, Mullumbimby
Multiple PCR testing sites in small towns have closed due to lack of staff. The ones that are open, people are queuing from 4am/sleeping in their vans. From 8am the line is so long they close. It is impossible to get a RAT anywhere. We have four ICU beds, all full. Can expand to nine but there’s no one to staff it. People will die unnecessarily.
Sean Church, Robina
My girlfriend and I woke up at 5am to get to the drive-through testing at Robina at 5.30am. The line was probably 3km long. At 7am someone tried to pull in front of me using the gap I had left for the hospital driveway. It didn’t matter though because at 7.30am we were informed the testing site was not opening today. By this time all of the other testing sites were full. Great way to spend my morning.
Billie, Lara
One of my friends has cystic fibrosis, and Covid – even this new one – is basically a death sentence. A friend of mine who is 30 and seemingly healthy has just spent three weeks in hospital with Covid and they say his lungs will never be the same. I have no idea what we are going to do now or in the future. I am scared. The government has left us to die or get permanent damage to our bodies or harm the people we love and I cannot believe we are so far into this and this is where we are. No wonder we can’t figure out climate change.
Marge, South Yarra
I have to return my grandson to South Australia but can’t cross the border without a test. PCR tests take too long for the results, a five-year-old cannot wait in a queue and no rapid tests are available. My grandson is very concerned.
Jacqueline Wilson, Ballarat
Ballarat’s public hospital system is at crisis point. As a patient who needs regular care due to bowel surgery, I have chosen to go private. But those who cannot afford private health insurance will miss out. Covid numbers have exacerbated weaknesses in our public systems.
I am pregnant and I am shit-scared to leave the house. I have had numerous panic attacks
Dean, Brisbane
Seven hours waiting for a test at Royal Brisbane Women’s Hospital. Is that really the best they can do after two years of preparation and millions spent on planning workshops at Queensland Health? Let’s have just four testers when thousands are in the queue! Fuming. Forced to squat on grass in 32C heat. No chairs, water, sunscreen, info. Someone in the queue in front literally collapsed.
Sophie, Caloundra
Tim, Melbourne
On the way home, we passed a pharmacy where a queue for RATs had been cut off. A mum who missed out was desperately trying to bargain with the pharmacist and people in the queue to split open the packs of seven and share them. It felt like a disaster movie. My partner needs a PCR result for support payments and I still don’t know my status. I have a feeling I won’t ever find out.
Michelle, Portalington
I pay a substantial amount each year through the Medicare levy on the basis that it provides universal healthcare services. If the feds continue with their current “strategy”, I think I should be entitled to a refund!
Mehdi, Melbourne
I booked a non-refundable Airbnb down the coast and now I’m stuck in isolation in my small apartment. Every day I don’t get a test result is a day I lose money. That’s also a holiday I was really looking forward to after this long year in locked-down Melbourne.
Grant, Reedy Creek
Undercounting of stats equals a false sense of security, impacts on nursing and medical staff, impacts on critical care.
Parisa Rezaei Abyaneh, Sydney
I am pregnant and I am shit-scared to leave the house. I have had numerous panic attacks because of my fears of getting it. Also it doesn’t help that the medical advice I am being given is that seven days of isolation isn’t enough ... it’s 14 until you can’t infect. Is this all a big government push to keep our economy going because there is an election?
Mac, Melbourne
My small business has been left in limbo and closed due to the long wait for test results. After last year’s eternal lockdowns I didn’t expect to be back in a situation where my business would be closed. My livelihood is once again on the line with no support for the loss of trade.
Jono, Canowindra
In his haste to boost “economic activity”, the NSW premier stopped most people’s Christmas celebrations (including ours), stopped holidays, made many more people sick and stuffed the health system for all sick people. One of the most naive and ideologically-driven decisions I’ve seen. I want to know if he can be made legally accountable for his negligent mismanagement. It would happen to company directors – why not him?
Gabby, Adelaide
Mark, Sydney
I’ll be damned if I’m going to waste my time standing in line for hours to get a test, especially because it’ll likely be full of sick people. We’ll be in the sweltering heat (we have no car) and I don’t care about supposedly doing the right thing if it’s a huge inconvenience. Why bother?
Ellie, Melbourne
It is awful not knowing if my sickness is Covid – to what extent should I be isolating? And a lack of access to testing means people cannot access disaster payments if they are too sick to work. More concerning is the disregard for elderly and immunocompromised members of our community – they’re just letting it rip through like wildfire. As a student nurse, it is horrifying to read of the exhaustion and dangerous work conditions – which ultimately impacts patients. People have and will die as a result of this negligence.
Trevor, East Melbourne
Now isn’t a good time to have an accident. I’m incredibly concerned about hospitals filling up with Covid wards and no space for anything else. I have parents in their 60s and I can just hope that neither of them gets sick or has an accident because they won’t get the normal standard of care.
Fiona, Urunga
Queues in the Coffs/Bellingen/Nambucca areas have been closing between Christmas and New Year at 9am as people started queuing at 4am. Since New Year it hasn’t improved. Our son brought Covid up from Sydney when a work colleague failed to inform him he’d tested positive before Christmas. I hold the government messaging responsible for misinforming people about the severity of Omicron.
Sue, Bentleigh
My year 8 son has not had anything like a normal secondary school experience, so I am hoping he will attend school in 2022 for year 9. The lack of forecasting and planning by states and feds is breathtaking.
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