Kiama Covid case a ‘false positive’

A south coast woman has spoken out about the fear and “emotional pain” she felt after being told her husband had tested positive to Covid, only to find out a day later it was a false reading.

A south coast woman says she was living in “fear” for her young kids, one of them with asthma, after her husband was told he was Covid positive.

Alone as her husband isolated in Newcastle, where he was working, Sally Medcalf and her children were also plunged into quarantine at home in Kiama.

Sally and Greg Medcalf of Kiama were in shock after Greg returned a positive Covid-19 test, which later turned out to be negative. Picture: Supplied

She said they were “incredibly emotional”, fearing for the entire family’s health.

Her husband Greg was the covid case reported in Kiama on Tuesday, after he got a text message telling him he was covid positive following a test in Shellharbour.

“I thought I was going to watch my nine-year-old son die because he has asthma and he gets lung infections all the time,” she said.

“I can’t express the fear and emotional pain thinking I was now alone with six children, three of whom have disabilities and health issues.”

At first, they wrote it off as a scam and weren’t worried, but Mr Medcalf began isolating until they could get more information.

“At first we thought it was a scam because we always been told you would get a call from NSW Health if you were positive,” she said.

“He rang the pathology and they confirmed it was positive, and that’s when he really broke down. It was an incredible fear to think this virus was going to hit our family.”

Greg Medcalf was isolated after being told he was covid positive. It later turned out to be a false positive test result. Picture: Supplied.

Mrs Medcalf began making calls to the school where her children had been, and informed her mother Greg was positive.

“I was making some of the hardest calls I’ve ever had to make, to tell people our family was impacted by covid,” she said.

“I felt so bad our family could have infected other people.”

Ten hours after receiving the original result, Mr Medcalf got a phone call saying his result was a “false positive”. But he remained isolated in a Newcastle hotel room until he got official confirmation in writing on Wednesday morning.

Mr Medcalf has now returned home to be with his family.

“He got home late yesterday afternoon and it was really good. We were all really please to be back together,” Mrs Medcalf said.

“It’s scary the stigma that goes with it and I was worried that people would get concerned about our family and not want to come near us, even though it was a false positive.”

Working away in rail freight transportation, Mr Medcalf was tested to comply with health directions, not because he was feeling unwell.

Learning from the ordeal, Mrs Medcalf encouraged people to have a plan in place for a covid positive situation. She said food in her house was scarce and medical supplies were running low when they were delivered the news they could not leave home after the positive result.

“I had medicine I needed and food for the kids that night, and I had no idea what to do,” she said.

“If we had some food aside and some medical supplies aside it would have made the process a lot less stressful until we could access services.”

However, she does not want people to be “afraid” of getting test, saying: “Human error happens, technology is not perfect, and I still think people should get tested. We will continue to get tests”.

The Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District, which spans from Bulli to Bawley Point, recorded its highest daily case rate since the start of the Delta outbreak on Wednesday, with 34 new cases.

Deputy Premier John Barilaro said the Illawarra region was among the “problematic” regional areas that was “absolutely not” coming out of lockdown this week.