WA transport company claims driver told to turn back and get tested in COVID-19 hotspot after PCR test expired

A WA truckie was left “upset” and “angry” after being told to turn back to COVID-19 hotspot Katherine for testing after his PCR test expired just hours before reaching the WA-NT border, according to a local trucking company. Truck drivers are reportedly quitting their jobs and refusing to enter WA amid claims of “chaos and confusion” over COVID-19 testing and vaccination mandates at the State’s two main border checkpoints. Frustrated drivers have been turned around to get new tests at clinics up to 500km away, while others have been made to wait at the border for two days while awaiting PCR test results. The extra time spent on the road is costing companies thousands, thrown freight deadlines into disarray and sparked concerns over the welfare of drivers. Last week, two of Glenn Hannah’s drivers were turned around — one at Eucla and the other at Kununurra — because their COVID-19 test results had just passed the required 72-hour mark. For each, it was a 1000km round-trip to get tested at Ceduna and Katherine. Mr Hannah — who runs G & C Hannah Transport out of Welshpool with his wife Christine — said frustration was building among drivers who “aren’t doing anything wrong”. “It’s easy for it to roll off the tongue at the border, but for my guys it’s 10 hours of extra driving and I’ve got to pay $1000 in fuel,” he said. “It’s pushing two years (we’ve been impacted) — they get the swab up their nose and down their throat three times a week and they are double jabbed, then we’re hit with that.” He said both drivers were aware their 72-hours had elapsed, but thought they would be able to get the rapid-antigen test at the border which would clear them. The driver at the NT border had not got a new test as the closest clinic was in Katherine, which is currently in the midst of a COVID-19 outbreak and he feared he would have to quarantine for 14 days. Despite this, Mr Dumesny said the driver was denied rapid antigen testing and was turned around to go and get a PCR test in Katherine and come back. “It’s staggering,” he said. “This isn’t logical.” Mr Hannah said the driver was “really upset”. “At the time, he’d been away from his family for two weeks,” he said. “It’s just not right. “We’ve been bringing over supplies to keep the country going and it’s just hard work and it doesn’t need to be. “They treat us like... we’re trying to sneak some horrible disease in — but we’re just doing our job.” A WA Health spokesperson said all drivers from extreme or high risk states must undergo a PCR test in the 72 hours prior to entering WA and also undergo a rapid antigen test at the border even if they had a valid negative PCR test. “It was never a strategy to provide rapid antigen tests to those who had not had a PCR test,” they said. “Every measure is taken to ensure that clear communication is provided to key stakeholders about these matters — it is the responsibility of transport, freight and logistics drivers to adhere to these border requirements.”