As Omicron threatened to uproot her family celebrations over the Christmas break, Liv McDonald - like many in Australia - went out in search of a COVID-19 test to make sure she wouldn’t pass the virus on to her grandparents.
But after finding it extraordinarily difficult to get her hands on a home testing kit, she was forced to ask her friend if they had any spare.
Then she had an idea.
“My partner [Liv] … was like, ‘Matt, you should build this site’. So I can’t really claim the credit myself,” says Matt Hayward, founder of .
Matt, 24, is a Melbourne-based software developer and built the Find a RAT website during his Christmas holiday to provide people in Australia with a live map of where they can purchase rapid antigen tests (RATs).
Users can submit information on where rapid antigen tests are available or advise if they are in low supply or out of stock.
It only took Matt six hours to build the website, but he says it has already seen 1.2 million users since its launch on Monday and 8,000 reports have been made on rapid antigen test availability.
The Find a Rat website helps people in Australia search for rapid antigen tests near them. Source: FindaRat.com.au
“I’m on holiday, so Monday morning I woke up at home and whipped it up and launched the site the same day.”
“There have been lots of comments from people being like, 'I've been able to see my parents in nursing homes' and 'I've been able to get one and travel interstate to see my son that I haven't seen for a year,'” he said.
“I think, ideally, anyone should be able to get a test.”
Changes to test rules
Following a National Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced people who test positive on a rapid antigen test will no longer be required to take a PCR test.
He also said up to 10 free rapid antigen tests will be provided through pharmacies for concession card holders over the next three months, but stopped short of announcing universal access to rapid antigen tests.
“Universal free access was not considered the right policy response by all of the states and territories in attendance today, and the Commonwealth,” he said.
Matt's site has seen some false reports, such as Kirribilli House (Mr Morrison's official Sydney residence) listed as a site where rapid antigen tests were in stock, but on the whole, it's working well, he says.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Australia’s Chief Medical Officer and COVID-19 Taskforce Commander attend a national cabinet meeting Source: AAP
“It's all crowdsourced, so that means anyone can view all the data for free and anyone can submit a report.”
“So if people have seen something that's wrong like someone’s put Coles as their house for a bit of fun, people have gone and corrected them, so that's been really, really good.”
Aside from the cost of the website domain, Matt pays for bandwidth and to display the map on the site, so he's thankful to those who have donated money to him to cover the costs via the crowdfunding platform Buy Me A Coffee.
Matt is crowdsourcing the running costs of the website. Source: Supplied/Matt Hayward
“I woke up to a $2,500 bill one morning, so I made a few changes to reduce that but all the people ‘buying a coffee’ to support those costs definitely helps out and helps it be a free resource.”
“All those funds go back into just keeping the site running.”
More testing initiatives popping up
And Matt's not alone. Other community initiatives trying to help people get tested across Australia have begun over the past week.
Like Matt, software engineer Jye Lewis, built the after a conversation with his wife Kate about the difficulty in accessing a PCR test in New South Wales.
Jye and Kate Lewis, the founders of COVID Test Finder. Source: Supplied
Jye, 24, who is from the Sutherland Shire, says he and Kate, 23, had driven around Sydney in search of testing clinics only to find they were closed.
“My mum was also struggling to find PCR tests and she's been a little bit unwell and works with elderly people.”
“There’s a lot of pressure on people, particularly when they can’t work.”
The website, which the couple are self-funding, has been getting about 1,100 hits every half an hour.
They say they've entered most of the data through the information available on Facebook pages and are grateful to those who helped keep to keep it current by submitting reports.
“In a time where many people don't have the capacity - or even worse, are restricted in their ability to work and… live a normal life - anything we can do to give back would be great,” Jye says.
Support for Aboriginal communities to get tested
Jo, a 43-year-old Butchalla woman, and Bec a 41-year-old Maori woman whose mother was part of the Stolen Generations are a couple from Brisbane.
They are founders of Dreamtime Aroha, an Aboriginal-owned store that sells Jarjum (children's) dolls, but recently turned their attention to raising funds to provide rapid antigen tests for remote Aboriginal communities in Queensland, including Palm Island and Cherbourg.
So far, they have raised more than $13,000.
Jo says in the city, people are using Afterpay to purchase tests, but on Palm Island, there are no rapid tests available.
“Even where I live at the moment, in Meanjin (Brisbane), it’s a 10-hour wait in the sun. Yesterday, people were fainting in the sun because they couldn't get RATs.”
She says the situation on Palm Island is particularly dire, with the Palm Island Aboriginal Shire Council last week posting a picture of a makeshift morgue that has been brought into the community of about 2,500.
About 44 per cent of residents aged over 16 on Palm Island have been fully vaccinated, compared to Queensland’s overall double dose rate of more than 86 per cent.
Only 57 per cent of residents in Cherbourg have been fully vaccinated.
“There’s a big distrust of the government. I’m hearing that they’re divided into vaccinated and not-vaccinated and finding it very hard to open up,” Jo says.
“The RATs seem to be what people are trusting at the moment.”
Jo says many people on Plam Island need to go to work but can’t unless they return a negative result. She also says there is also a significant concern for Elders in the community who are likely to be more vulnerable to the virus.
Ahead of Mr Morrison's announcement about concession card holders getting access to free tests on Thursday, the Department of Health referred SBS News to comments he previously made on 30 December in which he said the government already provides rapid antigen tests in aged care and health settings.
“In addition to that, we are looking at vulnerable groups of people, particularly Indigenous populations, especially in remote areas,” he said.
“Where possible, particularly for vulnerable groups, we would seek to do those through the pharmacy network.”
Jo has ordered the rapid antigen tests in bulk online and is looking to send out as many as possible to communities next week.
She's glad she can help, but doesn't think it should be her entire responsibility.
“I feel like we have to look after our own … I should not, as just one person with my partner, be raising money and be responsible,” she says.
“The government needs to put more money into our community.
“The thing that upsets me the most.. is that I could raise $50,000 and I'm still not going to touch the surface of the people in need.”
