Tamworth locals encouraged to dress to impress when headed for their COVID test

The 'Fancy Dress For Your Test' initiative was pioneered by Cessnock local Charlie McLennan, who came up with the challenge as a way to show her appreciation for health care workers.

"We wanted to give them a bit of a laugh and spread some positivity and joy," she said.

"It's basically to bring some positive vibes into the testing clinics."

Inspired, Tamworth resident Jody Ekert shared the idea into the Tamworth True Facebook page, which she started to connect the community and find positives in the pandemic.

"We have always tried to come up with quirky pandemic-based events," she said.

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As new exposure sites continue to pop up in the region, Ms Ekert said the initiative would be a great way to encourage people to do the right thing and get tested.

"We are all going to have to keep getting tested so why not?" she said.

Ms Ekert compared the challenge to last year's trend of getting dressed up to take your bins out and encouraged everyone to get involved.

"It's just such an easy thing for everyone to do, you don't have to spend money, most people have something lying around the house they can use."

As a die hard cricket fan, Ms McLennan had dressed up as Australian cricket legend Richie Benaud for her test.

"The nurses said it was the best thing that had happened to them all day," she said.

"They laughed and laughed, they thought it was great," she said.

Ms McLennan described the experience as an awesome moment.

"We couldn't believe how good they felt and how much excitement it brought to their day."

Ms McLennan encouraged others across the region to step up to the challenge and experience it for themselves.

"You'll be surprised about how good you'll feel."

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