Covid: A new craze ‘fancy dress for your test’ has been started by a Hunter family

‘Fancy dress for your test’ is gaining momentum as more and more people take up the new Covid craze to put smiles on the faces of health workers as they get the jab.

It’s a ‘marvellous’ new craze that is gaining momentum, encouraging people to dress up when they go for their Covid test, to spread a bit of much-needed laughter.

It even has its own hashtag #fancydressforyourtest which is starting to get a lot of traction on social media.

A Hunter family hatched the idea in hope of boosting morale and to make light of a serious situation which has impacted a number of people’s mental health.

On the spur of the moment, Charlie Mclennan and her two sons decided to dress up to go for their Covid test last week.

Charlie Mclennan and her sons George and Bill dressed up for their Covid test. Credit: Facebook

'Fancy dress to your test' – a man posted his outfit for his Covid test. Credit: Facebook

“We had a couple of Covid cases in Cessnock area and it was a supermarket I’d been to, so I said to my sons let’s go and get tested, get it out of the way, to rule it out,” Ms Mclennan said.

“I booked in a test for us and in the last hour before we went to go, I said let’s dress up and give the staff a giggle.

“These guys have been doing this for the last 18 to 20 months and they must be exhausted. They need a bit of laughter and brighten their day.”

As part of the official ‘Richies squad’ and massive cricket fans, Ms Mclennan and her son George dressed up as Richie Benaud impersonators, while her other son Bill donned a beer keg outfit.

The reaction from health staff was priceless.

Charlie Mclennan and her son George dress up as Richie Benaud's at their Covid test. Credit: Facebook

“We drove up and all of us were just giggling, we said marvellous to be here today,” Ms Mclennan laughed.

“Even when they were sticking the swabs up our noses, we were all just laughing and giggling, which was infectious because nursing staff were then laughing and giggling and taking photos of us in the car.

“They said this is the best thing that has happened to us all day, we’ve had a really s**t day.”

It was such a positive reaction that they went home and started a dedicated Facebook page ‘fancy dress for your test’ encouraging people to jump on the bandwagon.

“We targeted our local community, but then a whole lot of people wanted to join the group,” she said.

“People from all the way up and down the coast, people in Victoria, Queensland, a lot of people have invited their friends to join.

An aged care nurse didn't have a test but dressed up to spread some cheer in support of the new initiative. Credit: Facebook

One person posted on the 'fancy dress to your test' Facebook group that they wanted to work out how to wear this outfit to their test. Credit: Facebook

“The nurses are getting into it. Be really good if we could get more people to start dressing up.”

On Monday, more than 800 members had already joined the Facebook page and some had posted themselves getting into the spirit and dressing up at testing clinics.

A drama and English teacher from Callaghan Campus at Waratah, Simon Tarrant, decided it was a good idea after dressing up for his students.

He went with an Alice and Wonderland theme, donning a Mad Hatter costume, at the Wickham testing clinic.

Mr Tarrant said he though it was a fantastic idea to bring joy to others.

“I feel it’s so necessary at the best of times, but especially right now where moments of joy are far and few between,” he said.

Simon Tarrant dressed up as Mad Hatter to his Covid test in Wickham. Credit: Facebook

This Waratah teacher brought some joy to health staff at his Covid test. Credit: Facebook

“The nurses at the testing station thought it was quite funny and had heard of the online group.

“They guessed I was either a school teacher or someone having a laugh.

“Either way, we had a good giggle in what can be confronting experience. Definitely the most memorable adding that element of fun.”

Ms Mclennan is hoping the craze will now take off across the country and that more people will start getting involved to spread some laughter.

“There’s so much negativity surrounding Covid and people are isolated from their family and loved ones and I think this might be really good for mental health,” she added.

“We’re all worried about things going on but we have little control so why not do something that is going to make life a little bit more bearable.”