Covax Australia Covid-19 testing company tells patients to get retested after losing hundreds of swabs

Hundreds of people are fuming after a huge mistake led to Covid swabs being lost, with many patients told to get retested.

A Covid testing company has advised patients to get retested for the Covid-19 virus after it lost hundreds of swabs, prompting Queensland Health to remove it from the official website.

Hundreds of Brisbane residents have been left without results more than a week after being tested at Covax Australia’s clinics at the QT and QUT in Brisbane.

The company opened the clinics to help with the increased demand in testing and sent all PCR swabs to Queensland Pathology or other private labs for processing. However, hundreds of people have since been told to get retested after the company inaccurately labelled tests.

While some tests could not be processed by pathology clinics, others were lost completely with some residents left in limbo after being unable to contact Covax directly.

Brisbane woman Carly said she woke up with a sore throat and body aches on Thursday, December 30, and decided to do the right thing and get tested.

Carly was finally sent an email after trying to contact Covax and Queensland Pathology more than 200 times. Picture: Facebook via NCA NewsWire

“I went to the QUT site and was happy I only waited about 20 minutes in line, but then I was stuck inside for five days,” she told the NCA NewsWire.

After an entire weekend of calling Covax and Queensland Pathology more than 200 times, either being met with an engaged tone or being told the mailbox was full, Carly sent an email.

“I kept calling and then I found an email address … I got the garbled message back from the operations manager,” Carly said.

Covax Australia’s response to some people tested at the QUT Kelvin Grove site said “some patients will need to be retested”.

Many have been told to assume the test has been lost if they haven’t got the result within seven days.

“If you have been informed of issues with your sample you are able to present for re-collection,” the email said.

“Alternatively, if you have waited more than 48 hours you may present for re-collection.”

Covax allocated specific times on Tuesday and Wednesday when the clinic would be opened for those whose tests had not been processed.

After receiving the response, Carly considered being tested again but didn’t want to be left in the same boat.

However, after five days of waiting she finally received her negative result about 6.30am on Tuesday.

“It was a lot of waiting but you’ve got to be grateful the test is negative,” she said.

A Covid testing company has been removed from the Queensland Health website after a major bungle. Picture: Zak Simmonds

“Some people are really suffering with this, it could have been lost wages. I’m very lucky I can work from home.”

Hundreds of furious locals have taken to social media to express their frustration over the testing bungle, including Christine O’Brien who was so fed up she created a Facebook group for support.

“Queensland Pathology has been made aware of the group and the major issues many of us have experienced with our tests possibly disappearing into the ether,” Ms O’Brien posted.

James Brough spent two hours on hold with Queensland Pathology after almost one week of waiting on Monday. He was told there was no way to track the Covax swabs.

This means people who got tested had no way of knowing whether their swab had been processed.

“Covax have sent samples everywhere and have not kept any records so my sample could be at any pathology provider,” Mr Brough said.

“Pathology said if I’m not presenting any symptoms to just leave on the seventh day from the test as I probably still won’t have any test results.”

Caleb Hamilton said he still had not heard about his results after five days of waiting and multiple calls to the Covax contact line going unanswered.

“I’ve still heard nothing coming up to the end of day five and I tried to call the contact number eight times to see what’s happening with no luck,” he wrote on Facebook.

Aaron Drummond is in the same boat and was told despite needing the test result to return to work, he would have to be retested.

Mr Drummond was forced to call local hospitals and Queensland Pathology for answers.

“I was advised that it’s Covax’s job to communicate this error to the affected people,” Mr Drummond said.

Covax Australia opened testing clinics at the QT and QUT in Brisbane to help with increased testing demand. Picture: Zak Simmonds

“I was provided two phone numbers for Covax – one led to Southbank Doctors and another a mobile number for Covax that doesn’t ring.”

Mr Drummond was told to assume the swabs were lost and to seek another test.

A statement issued by Queensland Health said PCR testing demand had quickly escalated throughout December.

A Queensland Health spokesman said demand for testing had escalated throughout December on the back of eased travel restrictions and rising Covid-19 cases.

“PCR testing demand continues to place pressure on hospital and health services and private pathology providers, particularly over Christmas where some providers had planned reduced staffing levels,” he said.

People have been told to assume their test may have been lost if they don’t receive results within seven days; however, Queensland Health has not confirmed how many tests may have been lost.

It is understood that some samples have been incorrectly labelled by testing providers which delayed results.

Covax Australia has been contacted for comment.

Meanwhile, a major NSW testing clinic announced it had temporarily shut 28 sites, including both drive-through and walk-in clinics, across the state to keep up with increasing demand.

Australian Clinical Labs made the decision to shut the labs on Monday and said it would progressively reopen from Tuesday as it cleared the backlog of swabs.

“These closures have been necessary due to the significant increase in testing volumes across the State,” the company said.

NSW Health said testing capacity was under “enormous pressure” and emphasised the only people getting a PCR test should be those who have Covid-19 symptoms, live in a household with a confirmed Covid-19-positive case, or have been told by health authorities to get tested.