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Worker: I waited two weeks for test results

Testing in action at Southside (File photograph by Blaire Simmons)

A government worker who waited two weeks for the result of her coronavirus screening said the delay was “unacceptable”. The woman said: “It’s stressful, it plays on your mind. Even taking every precaution possible, there is still a chance you can have it.“Government has stated on almost a daily basis that they’ve received X amount of results and X amount positive and X are negative. “So hearing those results almost daily makes me wonder if they are far behind on sharing those results that they give daily, or if my result in particular was included in the update three or four days after my test getting done.”The woman added that the Government “needs to do better”. She explained: “If the results are delayed, then confirmed cases may be walking around unknown to them and spreading the virus in the meantime.” The woman said that she was told by her employer that she could be tested for the virus that causes Covid-19 if she wanted. She said she had opted to be screened as a precaution. The woman explained: “I had the test done just in case there was a small chance that I’d contracted the virus, even though we practised social-distancing in every instance, and have not shown symptoms.” She said the test was performed at the Government’s Southside testing centre on April 27. The woman, who works in the Dame Lois Browne-Evans Building in Hamilton, added that she was told to contact her GP three days later for the test result.She said that she had made several calls to her doctor’s office from May 1, but was told each time that the result had not come back yet. The woman, who asked not to be identified, visited her doctor on Monday and was again advised that the result had not arrived. Other members of her family suffer from allergies. The woman said: “I’ve had an allergy attack since the test, which made me think that I could possibly have had the virus. “The symptoms that day were really bad — similar to what they say the symptoms of Covid-19 are. So I was afraid.” The woman said she was “taken aback” when she got the all-clear in a e-mail from the Government at 10pm on Tuesday.She added: “I was made to understand that my doctor would be the one giving me the results.” The woman said that she was relieved to know she was clear of the virus, but added that the delayed wait had added to stress “which is now a concern of myself and my doctor”. David Burt, the Premier, said that everyone tested up until Tuesday would have received their result by Wednesday afternoon. He pledged: “Testing results will now be turned around in 24 hours.” Mr Burt said that several problems had delayed the sending out of some test results. These included test participants not listing their GP, listing themselves as their doctor, and giving incorrect e-mail addresses for their doctors. Mr Burt said that doctors would have access to an online site to view test results for their patients from yesterday. He added that 2,426 drive-through tests had been carried out up to Monday.