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Coronavirus crisis: Qld’s Covax Australia COVID testing company loses hundreds of swabs in major bungle

Lauren FerriNCA NewsWire
Covax Australia opened testing clinics at the QT and QUT in Brisbane to help with increased testing demand, but sends all PCR swabs to Qld Pathology or other private labs for processing. Zak Simmonds
Camera IconCovax Australia opened testing clinics at the QT and QUT in Brisbane to help with increased testing demand, but sends all PCR swabs to Qld Pathology or other private labs for processing. Zak Simmonds Credit: News Corp Australia

A COVID testing company has been removed from the Queensland Health website after a major bungle saw hundreds of swabs lost, with residents left without results being told to get another test.

Covax Australia opened testing clinics at the QT and QUT in Brisbane to help with increased testing demand but sends all PCR swabs to Queensland Pathology or other private labs for processing.

Hundreds of people have been told to get retested after the company inaccurately labelled tests, meaning they could not be processed by pathology clinics.

Brisbane residents have been waiting more than a week for results with many left in limbo after being unable to contact Covax directly.

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Test Lines
Camera IconA Covid testing company has been removed from the Queensland Health website after a major bungle saw hundreds of swabs lost. Zak Simmonds Credit: News Corp Australia

Hundreds of furious locals have taken to social media to express their frustration over the testing bungle.

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

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 just need to be retested.

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

Test Lines
Camera IconCovax Australia opened testing clinics at the QT and QUT in Brisbane to help with increased testing demand, but sends all PCR swabs to Qld Pathology or other private labs for processing. Zak Simmonds Credit: News Corp Australia

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

“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 Queensland Health spokesman said after travel restrictions were eased and Covid-19 cases were on the rise, the demand for testing had quickly escalated throughout December.

“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.

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 symptoms, live in a household with a confirmed positive case, or have been told by health authorities to get tested.

Originally published as Queensland’s Covax Australia Covid-19 testing company loses hundreds of testing swabs lost in major bungle

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