LOCALS who started lining up in their cars before 8am on Monday were receiving a COVID-19 test at Mildura Recreation Reserve within two hours.
However, by 10.30am those in the long lines of cars stretching for kilometres north and south of the testing site on the corner of Eleventh Street and San Mateo Avenue were facing much lengthier waits.
This was before Sunraysia Community Health Services started turning away locals shortly after 11am.
Sunraysia Daily spoke with several people at the pointy end of the queue who were set to drive in for a test before 11am.
Linda Cannizzo, of Gol Gol, said she wasn’t at an exposure site at the same time as the first positive case last week.
“But I was at one the next day – and for three days in a row,” she said.
“It was only for five minutes at a time, but you never know if one of the workers had picked it up and I don’t want to take it to my work (at Kmart).
“I was a bit uneasy about the situation last night so that’s why I’m here getting a test this morning.
“I’m fully vaccinated but that doesn’t mean I can’t be a carrier.”
Rod Cooke, of Gol Gol, and his son Darcy waited for nearly two hours in the queue along Eleventh Street before getting a test.
Mr Cooke said he wasn’t at one of the listed local exposure sites last week, “but I’ve actually got a head cold”.
“And this bloke (Darcy) has got mates he’s been with who have been to Tier 2 sites, and we live together.”
He said it was “crazy” that COVID had returned to Mildura, 15 months after the last positive case.
“It is what it is, but it’s disappointing that it’s been allowed to happen,” Mr Cooke said.
Yingliao “Anne” Long, of Mildura, was another person lining up to get tested who hadn’t been at an exposure site last week.
But she also felt “uneasy” about COVID being in the local community.
“I wasn’t at an exposure site. I don’t have symptoms. I just want to get a test to make sure I’m OK,” she said.
“I’m nervous about it because Mildura is a relatively small town. A lot of people are worried.”
