Over 1,300 people in Sydney given wrong COVID-19 test result

AUSTRALIA: Sydney’s St Vincent’s Hospital pathology has confirmed an additional 995 people were prematurely sent an SMS advising them their test was negative, when their true result was yet to be determined.

SydPath has apologised for the mistake and has contacted those affected. It has advised people they will receive their accurate test results.

On Saturday, the same pathology service contacted 400 people to notify them they had received a negative COVID-19 test result when they were in fact positive.

“An emergency response team is now investigating the cause of this mistake, which is believed to be human error,” SydPath said in a statement. “We sincerely apologise to all those impacted.” SydPath also launched an investigation into the incident.

“Do I go get another test and see if it’s positive or negative? I just need some assurance,” wondered Vanessa Li, 30, from Bellevue Hill. Li is one of the 400 people who received the wrong test result.

“I got my PCR results back last night, around 8:30pm, saying I was negative. So this morning I went shopping and have been at Westfield all day,” Li said. “When I was in one of the shops they texted me with a positive test result.”

– THE AGE