‘Human error’ blamed as 400 NSW people wrongly given Covid-19 all-clear

More than 400 people with Covid-19 were incorrectly told they did not have the virus due to a “human error” at a pathology lab.

More than 400 people who contracted Covid-19 were incorrectly advised they did not have the virus due to a “human error” at one of Australia’s largest pathology practices.

In the latest sign that NSW’s Covid-19 testing is continuing to struggle to cope under the pressure of tens of thousands of people wanting to get tested, one doctor has claimed the system is in “meltdown” and others are calling for an overhaul of testing guidelines.

St Vincent’s Hospital messaged several hundred people who attended its SydPath testing clinics on Boxing Day, notifying them of the error.

“SydPath last night incorrectly messaged more than 400 people, advising them they had tested negative to Covid. These people had tested positive to Covid,” a statement from the hospital reads.

Patients who presented for a test at SydPath’s clinics, which include a major drive-through centre by Bondi Beach, said they began receiving text messages on Sunday morning.

One patient, a man in his 30s from North Bondi, who asked not to be named, attended St Vincent’s hospital in Darlinghurst about 6.30pm on Christmas Day after becoming unwell and testing positive on a rapid antigen test.

The man said he was transferred to St Vincent’s Covid ward after testing positive on another RAT at the hospital. After further testing, he was discharged at 9.30pm with “possible Covid”.

He is yet to receive the results but on Sunday received a message from St Vincent’s in regard to the December 22 test: “Due to a clerical error, incorrect negative results have been sent to people who have tested positive on their nasopharyngeal PCR swab.”

Dr Jamal Rifi administers the Pfizer at Belmore. He also runs a testing clinic vaccine and says his staff are exhausted. Picture: Getty Images

Another person received a message on Sunday morning to “please disregard previous text message regarding negative Covid test. Your sample was retested due to a laboratory error and is Covid-19 POSITIVE.”

Sydney businessman James Stevens said he had been informed he did not have Covid-19, despite earlier antigen tests indicating he was infectious, after developing symptoms on Wednesday.

He received a notification from St Vincent’s Hospital laboratory that he had tested negative at 8.30pm on Saturday, but by 3pm on Sunday he was told he had tested positive.

Mr Stevens said he was concerned about the failure of the testing scheme and the time it took for his results. “I’m concerned, someone else should be concerned, pathology should be concerned, there were people waiting for their PCR test and that’s the gold standard,” he said.

Dr Jamal Rifi, who is running a Covid-19 testing clinic in Belmore, says his staff are “physically and mentally” broken down.

“The workload has more than tripled for us,” he said.

Dr Rifi said staff had been receiving constant abuse due to long wait times. “It’s in a meltdown because (of) high demand,” he said.

“We’re doing a lot of unnecessary swabbing, doing a swab because everyone wants to go to Queensland in three days.”

Royal Australian College of General Practitioners president Karen Price said rapid antigen tests should be used for travel and PCR tests reserved for close contacts. Dr Price said Australia needed to look at following the UK, where people were used to getting regular rapid antigen testing as a precaution.

“We need to stratify the risk profile of those people getting tests,” she said. “Those at low risk can have a RAT test and those people who had a direct contact or close contact would be more suitable for a PCR. We need to use our resources wisely.”