Health Care Worker Says She Was Denied Medication During Melbourne’s Hard Lockdown Of Tower Blocks
When health care worker Naima Mohamed arrived home from work to her Flemington public housing estate on the Saturday of the government-enforced hard lockdown, she had one thought when she saw police guarding her building: her migraine medication.
Mohamed, who suffers from chronic migraines and has attacks at least four times a week, explained her situation to police officers ― the only people she could ask for help at that time.
“I was given a telephone number by the police to call,” the 32-year-old told HuffPost Australia.
“It was the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) hotline. When I called the number, I explained I have pre-existing health conditions and need my medication. They took my details down, and I didn’t hear from anybody for two days.”
After multiple connections with the DHHS, Mohamed, who had needed to refill the prescription, ended up going without the migraine medication for the entire six days of the quarantine lockdown.
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Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews ordered without notice on Saturday, July 4 that residents of the North Melbourne, Flemington and Kensington estates stay confined to their homes amid a spike in COVID-19 cases. The order brought widespread criticism from residents.
After testing all 3,000 people in the towers, residents in eight of the nine high-rise buildings were allowed to leave their homes for essential reasons on Thursday, the same rules in force throughout the state, including for residential buildings in the same postcode as some of the public housing estates.
The remaining tower at 33 Alfred Street, North Melbourne is expected...
