A Sydney COVID testing lab that gave 400 people false negative test results back on Christmas has said they are now contacting another 995 people for a similar issue.
Yesterday, St Vincents pathology lab SydPath confirmed that more than 400 people were incorrectly texted that their COVID results were negative when they were in fact positive.
According to a media statement today by SydPath, there are now hundreds more people that were potentially given false negative test results too.
“The emergency team investigation the cause of [yesterday’s] error has now identified approximately 995 more people, tested on 23 and 24 December, were prematurely sent an SMS advising them that their test was negative when in fact their true result had not yet been determined,” the statement says.
“All of these people have been contacted an advised of the error. They have been advised they will receive their accurate test results by tonight (Monday).”
The good news from this second error, if you could call it that, is that not all of the 995 people texted are necessarily positive to COVID.
Hopefully, the majority of the people who received a premature negative test are actually negative. One can wish.
Update: Sydney’s St Vincent’s pathology lab say 995 additional people have been contacted over their ‘negative’ tests, which may have been incorrect.
This is in addition to the 400 who were told they were negative when they were positive. pic.twitter.com/sZAxczasJY
— Josh Bavas (@JoshBavas) December 27, 2021
If you’re wondering how on earth the same testing lab could make such huge errors two days in a row, SydPath has named… simple human error. God, I would not want to be the poor employee behind this.
“We have identified what occurred and can confirm it was related to a specific human error. SydPath have put procedures in place to ensure this cannot happen again,” the pathology lab said in a statement.
“This event comes at a time of unprecedented COVID testing activity and SydPath’s people, as with all pathology teams throughout NSW, are working around the clock to respond.”
SydPath has also apologised for the chaotic situation, acknowledging how distressing this information could be — one woman who received false negative results from the lab has gone viral after sharing her fears that she may have unknowingly given her family the virus.
“Once again, we are sincerely sorry for this error, and acknowledge the signifiant impact it has had on those involved.”
