Coronavirus: Get tested for us, hotspot nurse Melissa Urie urges

Nurse Melissa Urie knows all about the pain wreaked by COVID-19. What she doesn’t know is why anyone would refuse a test.

Sunshine Hospital nurse Melissa Urie wants people to get tested. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui

Nurse Melissa Urie works at a hospital in one of Melbourne’s hotspot suburbs. She knows all about the pain and suffering wreaked by COVID-19. What she doesn’t know is why anyone would refuse to be tested for it.

Ms Urie, and countless other medical experts, aren’t trying to complicate the issue or be insen­sitive to those with a legitimate reason for avoiding the test.

It’s just that the equation is so simple, and unbending: the more people who are tested, the greater the likelihood that the virus can be brought under control.

“I would strongly encourage everybody to have the test,” Ms Urie said. “Everybody wants to go to work and feel safe. I’m in that category.”

Ms Urie, who has seen some of her nursing colleagues quarantined after coming into contact with patients with coronavirus, said she was yet to hear an acceptable medical reason for refusing the test.

 

“If you can’t have a swab up the nose? That is the only acceptable reason to me.”

Nearly 1000 people have refused­ to be tested for COVID-19 across just two suburbs identified as Melbourne hotspots for the virus.

Since the testing blitz started last Thursday, more than 93,000 tests have been carried out in the hotspot suburbs and 233 new cases of coronavirus diagnosed.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews urged people in the areas to agree to testing, revealing that 928 people in Broadmeadows and Keilor Downs had refused. “If someone offers you a test on your doorstep, please say yes,” he said.

But Mr Andrews said it would not be practical to make testing mandatory or otherwise compel people to be tested, even if refusal was “not the desired outcome”.

Health Services Union national secretary Lloyd Williams has called for the state government to step in if people refuse to be tested for coronavirus, with that small group putting health workers who are dealing with the escalating ­crisis at risk.