After being identified as a close contact, Pixel Harman lined up at a walk-in clinic in Sydney on 22 December to get a PCR test.
But more than 96 hours later, Harman still had not received a result and, due to being deemed a close contact, they were forced to miss end-of-year festivities and quarantine over Christmas and Boxing Day.
"I tried calling them on the 24th because I figured they'd be closed on Christmas Day, but couldn't get through,” Harman told SBS News.
“All day I kept trying different phone numbers to try and get through, but nothing ... It’s been pretty devastating.”
As surging COVID-19 infections put Australia’s healthcare system under significant strain, state governments are asking people to reconsider their need for PCR tests, ambulances and presence at emergency departments.
New South Wales is experiencing staggering wait times at COVID-19 testing clinics and delays of up to three days for test results as the state hit a national record of 6,394 daily cases on Boxing Day.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet addresses media during a press conference in Sydney, Thursday, 23 December 2021. Source: AAP
NSW recorded 6,324 COVID-19 infections and three deaths on Monday.
Premier Dominic Perrottet on Sunday asked that only those with symptoms of the virus and interstate travellers requiring a negative COVID-19 result line up to get a PCR test.
Wait times to receive test results are typically between 48 and 72 hours, according to NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard, with some people waiting even longer.
On Sunday, it was revealed that more than 400 people in Sydney were incorrectly told they had tested negative to COVID-19 but were positive for the virus.
Noting hospital staff are “run off their feet”, Mr Hazzard urged people who test positive for the virus to reconsider their need to go to hospital and call an ambulance.
Queensland Chief Health Officer John Gerrard echoed this message, telling reporters: “We want … the vast majority to be managed at home.”
Dr Gerrard pleaded with people not to show up at the emergency department unless they experience difficulty breathing, have chest pain or feel "significantly unwell".
“Just because you have COVID-19, that's certainly not a reason to go to the emergency department."
Long queues, hospitals under pressure pose risk to vulnerable communities.
Professor Catherine Bennett, chair of epidemiology at Deakin University, said it is not just NSW that is coming under pressure due to the rapidly spreading Omicron variant.
In Victoria, Professor Bennett said she's heard cases of people waiting up to three hours to get tested and people “hub hopping” in search of shorter queues.
The first three days after infection are often the most important for at-risk people to get treatment and delayed results could impact their health care, she said.
“Whether it's monoclonal antibodies or antivirals, you know, they work best in the first three to five days from infection,” Professor Bennett said.
"The risk is long queues will turn people … or the results are so delayed that it can cost people who are positive and who need that confirmation to actually get them into the system and looked after.”
Meanwhile, healthcare workers are working around the clock to ensure COVID-19 doesn’t spread throughout hospitals and infect vulnerable patients.
Cars queue as people wait to receive a COVID test at a drive through testing facility at Bondi beach Source: AAP
“There is a real issue in managing people who have COVID-19… They’ve got other people in the hospital who are really vulnerable and have to manage the patients so the virus doesn’t spread,” Professor Bennett said.
Professor Alexandra Martiniuk, an epidemiology professor at the University of Sydney, said Australia’s hospitals could soon face increasing burdens as the variant spreads to healthcare workers.
In the UK some hospitals are reporting 40 per cent of their staff are isolating or sick with COVID-19, she said.
“In New York, they're making decisions around health care workers returning to work while they have COVID,” Professor Martiniuk said.
“They're kind of in a situation where they need health workers to return if they're not that sick.
“It's worth thinking about what to do about this.”
A different approach
Professor Martiniuk said government decision-making needs to be flexible and match the pace of the rapidly changing situation.
She believes clear communication of changing health advice is essential and that subsidising rapid antigen tests (RATs) is a good first step.
“[RATs] are incredibly expensive. I tried to buy one set for my family that cost me $100,” she said.
“And [the cost] could be pushing people to get PCR tests when they might not need them.”
Professor Bennett said those most at-risk should be fast-tracked at COVID-19 testing sites.
“If someone has a risk profile of more serious illness and they've already started to see symptoms, they need to be tested,” she said.
“It’d be really helpful if you could fast track those people, including those who are unvaccinated because we know they're at more risk of developing more severe illness.”
South Australia has lifted a requirement for mandatory PCR tests for people arriving in the state and Queensland will accept rapid antigen tests from 1 January.
A general view of the CBD in Adelaide, South Australia Source: AAP Image/David Mariuz
Professor Bennett said a supervised RAT at a pharmacy rather than requiring a PCR test for interstate travel could help lighten the burden on testing sites.
“[PCR tests for interstate arrivals] is just putting a burden on the queues that is not helpful,” she said.
Professor Martiniuk said Australians should stay vigilant when it comes to the virus but stressed there's hope yet.
“I think people are getting really down about COVID-19 [but] there are vaccines in the works, which would potentially be able to cover all variants, including potentially new ones.
“And there are also new medications coming out.
“I think the longer people can hold off getting COVID-19 once… or ever getting it, the better. The hopeful thing is that there actually are new things on the horizon and they're coming soon.”
