Pathology Lab Mistakenly Sends Negative Results To Hundreds Of COVID-Positive People

An Australian laboratory told 400 people on Christmas Day that they tested negative for coronavirus when their results actually came out positive.

SydPath laboratory at St. Vincent's Hospital in Sydney issued an apology for the mix-up Sunday.

Swabs from the affected individuals were taken on Dec. 22 and Dec. 23. They then received messages on Christmas Day that said their results were negative. The staff at the pathology lab realized the mistake only the next day, 9News reported.

SydPath immediately contacted the affected people. "Please disregard previous text message regarding negative COVID-19 test. Your sample was retested due to a laboratory error and is COVID-19 POSITIVE," read the message.

"SydPath last night incorrectly messaged more than 400 people, advising them they had tested negative to COVID-19," the laboratory said in a statement. "These people had tested positive to COVID. As soon we became aware of the issue this morning, SydPath immediately commenced a process to contact impacted people. We sincerely apologize to all those impacted."

SydPath medical director Anthony Dodds blamed the grave error on the "very large volume of tests that we've been contending with."

A 34-year-old man, who was among those who received a wrong negative result, told ABC News Australia that his condition grew worse after getting tested. He felt something was not right and decided to visit a local hospital Saturday night.

"...I also trust myself, I'm unwell because every symptom I've had is COVID … the PCR test must be wrong," he reportedly told his doctor. The man took a rapid antigen test, which came back positive, and was admitted to the hospital's COVID-19 ward before he received a message from the laboratory.

"I think it was quite frustrating, in the sense that one, it took 85 hours firstly to get the negative test result," he said. "And then me having to call a GP and go to the hospital to try and clarify what is wrong with me."

Professor Dodds said it was probably caused by "human error" and added that an emergency response team will investigate the incident.

The incident comes at a time when coronavirus cases have reached record levels in Australia. Cases in New South Wales, where the St Vincent Hospital's lab is located, are skyrocketing, while testing services are struggling to keep up with the demand. On Christmas Day alone, more than 6,000 confirmed cases were reported in NSW – the previous record for the most number of new cases in a day was around 1,600 in September, The Hill reported.