‘I still don’t know if I had coronavirus or not’

A KILLYCLOGHER mother who was showing symptoms of coronavirus has been “left in limbo” after her test sample was lost.

Louise Quinn (39) went for the Covid-19 test on Saturday, May 30 after she felt unwell, had a high temperature, was sore to inhale and developed a cough.

Louise was tested at the Enniskillen test centre, but after hearing nothing back about her test result, she enquired with Randox, and she received an email saying ‘the laboratory has no record of receipt of your sample for coronavirus testing.’

Randox developed a rapid test for Covid-19 (SARS-CoV-2), the new strain of coronavirus, and it is being used at test centres throughout the North.
Speaking to the UH, Louise explained she was told on Thursday past that her test had been lost.

She said, “I decided to get the test because I had a lot of the symptoms.

“I never felt so shattered or useless so I went and got tested.

“When I heard nothing back, I queried about it and I finally got an email last Thursday to say that my test was lost.

“There is no point in me doing another test now because the virus would not be in my system anymore as I am over that stage.

“It is an absolute disgrace because I still do not know if I had Covid-19.”

After taking part in the test, Louise received an email saying the test had been successfully registered on the Randox Health Portal.
However, the process was not fully completed.

Louise continued, “How many people has this happened to?

“We are meant to be going into the test centre and getting the results to keep ourselves and our families safe but it didn’t work like that for me.

“Thankfully I have recovered well and I am feeling much better now but it was very worrying at the time.”

A spokeswoman for Randox said, “It should be noted that Randox is only one partner within a multi-partner, national testing programme being run and coordinated by the Department of Health and Social Care.

“In order for this testing programme to work efficiently, all partners work to ensure effective processes at each stage of the testing journey – from testing kit distribution and sample collection to transportation and delivery, and finally, the testing of the sample.

“For our part, we are focused diligently on processing all tests in a timely manner after receipt of sample at our laboratory.”