THE town of Warracknabeal, at the heart of regional Victoria's wheat belt, has mostly been untouched by the COVID-19 virus.
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The postcode of the town with fewer than 2500 people, has only had one positive case listed since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
In September, two active cases were reported in the town - the positive cases were visitors to the region and the small town banded together to help keep any potential risk of an outbreak to a minimum.
But as regional Victoria has opened up and more and more people are moving around the state, concerns have come to light around testing in rural areas outside of bigger towns such as Horsham.
Rebecca Gay has lived in Warracknabeal for seven years - a town she said she moved to for family reasons and loved because "it was a simple life".
Ms Gay was alerted to the possibility she may have been in contact with a positive case of COVID-19 earlier in November.
She said she contacted the Warracknabeal campus of Rural North West Health and was advised to go to Horsham for testing.
The Wimmera Mail-Times confirmed with the health care group testing was only conducted in Horsham, but in the event of widespread COVID cases or local exposure sites announced, plans were in place to set up a testing site within the town.
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Ms Gay however does not have her licence and relies on friends and family for transport around town and if the need arises to travel to Horsham.
"We do have COVID-19 tests that you can buy from a chemist, but they don't come cheap," she said.
"I'm on a limited income. The cost of living has increased so much in the past six months I now have just over $100 to live on to pay bills and groceries for a fortnight.
"A test, which I think is about $30 is a lot of money for me. I feel the virus is becoming the virus of the rich. I've explained my situation and no one is really interested."
Ms Gay said she has been feeling unwell and still hasn't been tested.
"I just don't have the means or money to go to Horsham to be tested," she said.
"I've been quarantining because I've had symptoms and normally I'm not a person who gets sick often.
"I can't catch a bus - it would put too many people at risk and it's not the right thing to do."
On the Public Transport Victoria website it states the only transport available to Horsham from Warracknabeal is on a Wednesday.
"I live in a town with many elderly people and I've also got a mother-in-law who is in her 80s," Ms Gay said.
"She has been unwell and she hasn't had a test either."
Taking a look further west in the Wimmera to the township of Nhill, which has a population of 1750, and is 74.3 kilometres and a 49 minute drive from Horsham.
Compare this to Warracknabeal which is a 60 kilometre and 42 minute drive.
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West Wimmera Health Service confirmed there was one testing facility in Nhill. It is based at the Nhill Trailer Exchange, operating from 12 midday to 12 midnight daily.
Nhill has twice-daily public transport options both to and from the township of Horsham.
"People might say why do I live somewhere where services are limited but I think we should be at least able to get a test here," Ms Gay said.
"I'm not normally one to speak up, but this just isn't right.
"I've had one dose of vaccine which I'm fortunate for but I'm still not well. I just don't know what to do from here.
"Everyone is really frightened about COVID. We've been living in a bubble for so long but I would never forgive myself if something happened to someone I loved or to the town that I live in.
"With people moving around more, COVID is going to travel out to regional places that haven't had to really worry too much about the virus and I think there is a need to be more answers for more people about testing and what to do next."
The Wimmera Mail-Times asked Rural North West Health what residents should do if they are unable to travel to Horsham for a test.
At time of publication, no response had been given to the follow up questions.
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