Sancia West and her seven-year-old twin daughters are bracing for a long wait for a COVID-19 test in regional NSW after they were deemed by health authorities as close contacts of a positive case.
As COVID-19 daily cases soar into their thousands, a six-hour wait at testing clinics has become the norm in recent days as the state's health system is inundated with close contacts, people with symptoms and those who need a test to travel interstate.
Queuing outside at a testing clinic in Gosford, on the state's central coast, Dr West said she had has asked health workers to prioritise daughter Elizabeth, who has autism and intellectual disabilities.
"That's not the kind of health system that we aspire to have or that we expect to have here," Dr West said.
But Dr West, who has a PhD in nursing, is disappointed these pressures are being experienced almost two years after COVID-19 was declared a pandemic.
"It's something we shouldn't have gotten to this far into the pandemic," she said.
In parts of regional NSW, people are queuing for tests as early as 4am. Some are sleeping in their cars overnight.
In Coffs Harbour, on the state's Mid North Coast, the main testing facility was turning people away after reaching full capacity on Tuesday morning.
Some drove north to Grafton in a bid to get a test, Clarence Valley woman Nicole Lancaster said.
She was among those who got to a testing clinic in Grafton before 8.30am when security began turning people away.
"We waited and waited and waited. We were all sunburnt, dehydrated," she said.
"The staff were amazing, security guards were amazing. It's just a totally hopeless situation."
On the NSW south coast, Jessica Dawson runs a testing clinic at South East Regional Hospital, Bega.
She said most tests had been done on people planning to travel interstate for holidays.
"About 65 per cent are people from the area, travelling usually to Queensland, sometimes Tasmania," she said.
Rule changes too late for some
With Queensland today scrapping the day-five PCR test for visitors, many already in the Sunshine State hope they can now enjoy a more relaxing holiday.
But that's no comfort to people like Julie Purcell, stranded south of the border because of the escalating pressure on the NSW health system.
She arrived in Sydney from London on December 11 and hoped to reunite with family in Brisbane on December 25 – the day her mandatory quarantine period ended.
On December 23, Ms Purcell followed Queensland's requirement to have a PCR test 72 hours prior to her flight to Brisbane — but her negative result came back almost 100 hours later, blocking her ineligible to cross the border.
She decided to drive from Sydney to cross the border, stopping at Port Macquarie – where she decided to bypass the queues and pay $150 for a private test.
She called on the Queensland government and others around the country to improve collaboration about COVID-19 entry requirements.
"The experience is very unpleasant," Ms Purcell said.
"I think the planning should have been better in the sense that there's not enough resources in NSW to do the test and get the test back within the 72 hours."
