Goya Dmytryshchak
Residents of Williamstown’s Nelson Heights and Floyd Lodge public housing towers have been doorknocked to be tested for COVID-19.
Nelson Heights resident, amateur boxing champion Stephanie Mfongwot, said the tests were being conducted in the doorway of each apartment in the 13-storey building.
IPC Health, one of the state’s biggest community health providers, was on the ground supporting residents.
“They’re just downstairs and then they’re going to each and every apartment getting everyone to do their test,” Mfongwot said.
“If you don’t want to, they will just let you be but they will keep asking until you get it done.
“They [said] that if I don’t want to do it that’s fine but they will keep asking me until I get it done, because on their list they can see that I still haven’t done it.”
Mfongwot said she received her negative test result within 24 hours.
“When you do it, they give you a box of masks and a bottle of sanitiser, which is good,” she said.
“They told me if there’s anything I need, I can just go downstairs and talk to one of them.
“And one good thing I’ve noticed is that we have more cleaners in the building now – like every day, all the time, cleaning everywhere.
“They’re really keeping it safe for us.”
Mfongwot was photographed by Star Weekly outside the tower in March for a story about her dreams of becoming a professional boxer being on hold due to the pandemic.
A Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson said the testing was a precautionary measure and cleaning had been increased to five times a day.
One person in Nelson Heights had tested positive and none at Floyd Lodge.
A COVID-19 suburban testing blitz was developed last month to manage outbreak areas of concern in other parts of Melbourne’s north west, with residents door-knocked and offered free testing.
