NORTHERN Tablelands MP Adam Marshall has requested NSW Health look into a private pathology lab that delivered two false positive COVID-19 tests in three days.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
It broke on Friday morning that someone had tested positive in Armidale, but by that evening it had been determined the person was negative for the virus, and the same thing happened on Sunday, with the negative result being confirmed on Monday morning.
Mr Marshall said there was a sense of irritation over the weekend, following the results.
"I think there's a level of frustration in the community that we see two false positives very, very close to each other," he said.
He is hoping an investigation will help re-establish confidence in the results that come out of the facility.
He also said he would like to avoid the community being frightened by a false positive in the first place, and has written to Minister for Health Brad Hazzard requesting cases not be announced until they are fully confirmed.
He questioned why the Armidale case had been mentioned at Sunday morning's press conference given it was already expected the second test would come back negative.
"It's the equivalent of saying that for someone who's been arrested for murder 'they've definitively done it, but we need to put them on trial just to make sure'," he said.
READ ALSO:
"In terms of a disaster situation or a crisis as we're experiencing at the moment with confronting the pandemic, the community need to be assured the information that is being provided is absolutely accurate.
"And I get concerned when NSW has a policy of announcing cases that they know themselves are almost certainly not cases, then correcting the record days later."
One thing that did make Mr Marshall happy over the weekend was the Glen Innes mass vaccination clinic, which saw 335 people get their jabs.
He said that was an outstanding effort and showed the attitude of holding out for Pfizer is starting to fade, which he believes is a good thing.
"If you provide people the opportunity, regardless of the type of vaccine, people will get vaccinated," he said.
"So many in the community are quite rightly making the decision to get the vaccine that's available, because the best vaccine you can get is the one that you can put in your arm straight away."
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark northerndailyleader.com.au
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Google News