My colleagues and I moved between buildings in Flemington and North Melbourne, testing thousands of terrified but lovely residents for COVID-19, writes Lisa Peters.
I was unsure what we nurses would experience at Melbourne's public housing towers, which this week were put under total lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus and allow health authorities to complete thousands of tests.
Media crews were set up along the roads and I was reminded of the news stories I had seen. We were guided inside to put on our PPE and began working our way along each floor. We were given a list of the names of residents on each floor and worked our way through every apartment, continuing until they'd all been visited.
The police stood back away from them and us, showing the same respect and kindness at every door we knocked on. When each floor was completed, we went back downstairs to "doff" — remove our PPE in a particular way so as not contaminate ourselves or others. When each floor was completed, we went back downstairs to "doff" — remove our PPE in a particular way so as not contaminate ourselves or others.
Most were worried about not being able to go to work and support their families or that they'd lose jobs entirely.
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