HUNTER GPs are urging people with any symptoms to continue getting swabbed for COVID-19 as testing numbers slump in NSW.
Dr Lee Fong, from the Hunter GP Association, said while many people in the region may have testing fatigue, recent outbreaks in Sydney were a reminder that we must remain vigilant.
"We're all getting a bit sick of being tested, aren't we?," he said. "The first time we had a sore throat and got tested, we were a bit nervous about both getting a swab shoved up our nose, and what the result would be.
"But now - two, three, four or five tests later - we're just over it. The tests always come back negative, so what's the point? The truth is - none of us have any idea when that next sniffle, that next sore throat, that next headache is going to be COVID-19."
Testing numbers in NSW dropped to 8773 in the 24 hours to 8pm on Sunday.
Dr Fong said the Hunter was fortunate to have not had a case of COVID-19 "for months".
"But we live in a society that is characterised by porous regional and state borders," he said. "COVID-19 could break out one morning anywhere in Australia, and by the evening could be in the woman sitting a couple of tables away from you in a café, or the man standing behind you in the supermarket checkout.
"So we, and our kids, need to get tested, even if our symptoms are mild, even if someone else in our family has similar symptoms and just had a negative test, even if the last four tests we had were all negative," he said.
"We need to get tested for the sake of our health, for the sake of the health of our family and friends, and to help avoid the regional and state lock-downs that wreak havoc with the mental and financial wellbeing of our whole community."
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