A KOORALBYN woman has called on Sullivan Nicolaides to be clearer about the amount of time it takes to receive coronavirus test results after she spent about four days isolating as she awaited the outcome of a swab.
The woman, who asked not to be named, said she was told after being tested on Friday that it would take a maximum of 72 hours to receive a result but ended up being stuck in quarantine until Tuesday.
She had made a phone call to head office on Sunday but was told the Beaudesert swabs had not been sent for analysis and it would take a further 72 hours for results to be returned after they had been tested.
That scenario did not eventuate but it prompted her to query whether tests from other parts of the south-east were being given priority over those collected at Beaudesert.
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Health Minister Steven Miles told the ABC that the most important tests were being fast-tracked to get the results to public health units sooner.
The amount of time private labs were taking to return results was concerning but had come as a result of a spike in tests.
"There are delays at the moment in both the public and the private system for turn around," Mr Miles said.
"We have seen a slight improvement in turn around in our public labs but they are still slower than we went them to be. Our goal is 24 hours.
"I have certainly had people contact me saying that they've been waiting four to five days for results from private labs and tests they've had at their GP... It is the result of a massive wave of people who have come forward to get tested."
The woman said she had to cancel dental surgery appointments and was unable to go grocery shopping as a result of being in isolation.
Her test came back negative on Tuesday about 12pm. She was tested because she had been to Browns Plains, an area that Logan women who tested positive to the virus last week had visited after flying back from Melbourne via Sydney.
The safety of her mother in an aged care home was also a contributing factor.
Mr Miles said pathology lab staff were working around the clock.
"They have broken all sorts of records, they're exhausted but they are doing a great job turning them around as fast as they possibly can," he said.
"In some ways it is a good problem for us to have. It means people have heeded the call and got tested."
More than 4.5 million tests were carried out across Australia yesterday, with 2080 of those taking place in the Metro South region.
Sullivan Nicolaides' parent company Sonic Healthcare was contacted for comment but did not respond.
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