Coronavirus: Worshippers and shoppers head the queues

Health authorities in Wollongong ­struggling to process hundreds of tests for residents.

Residents from the area queue for testing at Wollongong Hospital on Wednesday. Picture: John Feder

A Greek Orthodox Church at the centre of a new coronavirus outbreak says parishioners have been forced to line up for hours to be checked for infection as health authorities in Wollongong ­struggle to process hundreds of residents requiring tests.

Worshippers who attended St Nektarios Greek Orthodox Church and The Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church on Sunday and shoppers at Figtree Grove and Wollongong Central shopping centres on Sunday were put on high alert on Tuesday night, after the venues were added to NSW’s list of hotspot sites.

Hundreds of masked residents in the coastal hamlet just south of Sydney queued to get swabbed on Wednesday at testing sites across the regional centre, including at Wollongong Hospital, where the queue snaked around the block.

St Nektarios Greek Orthodox Church committee vice-president Kathy Tzanis, who met health authorities at the church on Wednesday, said the community was reeling after learning of the outbreak and had rushed to get tested.

“People have been obliging; the problem is it’s taking forever (to get tested), the lines are so long,” she said. “There’s not enough testing stations. There’s a few sites but it’s not just the churches, there’s also people who have been to shopping centres.”

She said the church and its parish­ioners had been cautious about following COVID-safety protocols and so far every test had come back negative to her knowledge, including her own.

“We’ve got barriers in front of our icons and ribbons across so people cannot kiss or touch them,” she said. “They don’t kiss the Bible — no disrespect to our religion but we understand what’s happening — it’s a pandemic.

“We know He understands,” she said, gesturing to the skies with a laugh.

Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church committee member Katherine Kalambokas said news the virus had arrived in Wollongong had come as a shock to the flock.

“This (process) is not very pleasant but it can happen anywhere — it’s not the churches’ fault, it’s just what happens when people come together,” she said.

Alex Arvanitakis and his parents Nick and Nia, who attended Holy Cross on Sunday, spent more than seven hours lining up outside Wollongong Hospital, after they arrived at 7.45am on Wednesday for testing.

The family was yet to get a text from NSW Health on their status as potential close contacts, but had taken it upon themselves to get tested after they heard of the outbreak. “We’ve had no symptoms, we’re just here out of precaution,” Mr Arvanitakis said.

“We haven’t gone to church all year; this was our first time. We normally just go on Christmas and sometimes Easter. Everyone has been ringing up friends (talking about the outbreak), the Greek community is pretty close.”

Wollongong Hellenic Club committee member Alex Mav spent Wednesday stacking chairs and tables before shutting the venue, after a single customer failed to show up before midday. “We don’t expect people to come so we thought it was a good idea to close for a few days,” he said. “There’s no point paying staff to do nothing with no customers.”

Tina Blachnig and husband Harry, who shopped at Figtree Grove over Christmas, waited for three hours on Tuesday before being turned away. They returned at 6.45am on Wednesday to try again. “I just thought, ‘Are you ­serious?’ ” she said.

“We’ve spent 11 hours in this line all up — it’s ridiculous.”