With her holidays on hold, emergency department nurse Laura Harris is testing patients for COVID-19
Brisbane Heat batter on frontline of virus pandemic
She should be on holidays in South Africa but dual Rebel WBBL champion Laura Harris is instead working on the frontline of Australia's coronavirus pandemic.
The Brisbane Heat batter is an emergency department nurse at Logan Hospital in Queensland's south-east.
“I was in a Corona-Clinic and there were about 300 people that came in, and we tested about half of them in that one day."@qldcricket & @HeatBBL's Laura Harris talks about her experiences as a nurse on the frontline of the COVID-19 fight - https://t.co/KOGZuIwXjB pic.twitter.com/wzrbpr41LE— Australian Cricketers' Association (@ACA_Players) April 2, 2020
The COVID-19 outbreak means an end-of-season vacation with fiancée and T20 World Cup winner Delissa Kimmince has been canned while she stays at work.
Queensland authorities confirmed on Thursday the state had recorded 835 cases of the virus with three deaths.
While Harris's hospital has only returned a few positive cases, hundreds have had to be tested.
"I was in a corona clinic and there were about 300 people that came in, and we tested about half of them in that one day," Harris told the Australian Cricketers' Association website.
"Now we've got a much stricter criteria. If anyone has a cough or cold symptoms, we act as if they could have it until it's ruled out."
Because of her role, Harris has had to isolate herself away from family or loved ones.
She says the threat of contracting the virus through her work was low however given all the precautions she and her colleagues were taking.
"There are a lot of staff at work that are sharing photos of their own self isolation at home from their kids and their families, which is a bit of a laugh but something that everyone feels necessary at this stage, not knowing how bad it can get," she said.
"Touch wood we don't actually get it but we are doing all the right precautions at work, so at the end of the day if we do get it, it shouldn't be from work, it should be from outside somewhere."