Covid 19 coronavirus: Auckland teenager receives Covid-19 test results from strangers

A North Shore man says he has been “extremely frustrated” after his daughter was accidentally sent Covid-19 test results for two women.

John McCarthy said he initially laughed at the two text messages sent to his 16-year-old daughter on Saturday night.

However, he woke up Sunday thinking “that’s really bad” and wondered how many other times it could have happened.

Fortunately, the text messages did not reveal much personal information, simply a name and the result of his test taken on Friday, both negative.

But the more McCarthy thought about it, the more he was outraged that the Ministry made another mistake.

“We did not do anything [Saturday night]We just laughed. Then I woke up this morning and thought it was a mistake. Then I woke up this morning and thought ‘wait a minute, that’s really bad’.

“What’s going on?”

He said the fact that it was not just one text message, but two, possibly indicating the couple had the same contact number, was also lacking, he said.

“It wasn’t sent once, it was sent twice. And my concern is if it’s happening to me what other awkward mistakes they’re making.

“Why are they sending the private information of people’s results to begin with, secondly, not once but twice and the third thing is, how many other mistakes have been made?”

He said he called 0800 yesterday, but no one answered. He left a message.

“I am extremely frustrated when it gives me an idea of ​​the ineptitude of those who are running this program, and my question is, why does he have a Minister of Health? Why does he have so many wallets on his plate? Because this is when mistakes happen and this is one of them. “

He also cited the Weekend miscommunication that saw a Covid-19 government advisory asking all residents of South and West Auckland get tested. Since then, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has retracted the statement and told people that it is only voluntary.

A spokesperson for the Northern Region DHBs (Northland, Waitematā, Auckland and Manukau counties) said they were aware of the specific case and confirmed that they had “forwarded the negative test results to their registered contact numbers for the intended recipients “.

To protect patient privacy, the automated text message contains only limited information and a number to call if it was sent to the wrong person, the spokesperson said.

“As is the case with communicating any test results, a process has been established to protect patient information and privacy. This process is in line with the privacy policies of DHBs in the Northern Region.

“If someone tests positive for Covid-19, they will receive a call from a public health medical official who will inform them of the next steps.”

The Northern Region had processed “hundreds of thousands of Covid-19 test results” and, on occasion, people undergoing a Covid-19 test had accidentally given them the wrong number or been incorrectly registered.

When a mistake was made, it was recorded, an alert was sent to the referring GP and / or the testing center in the community where the test was performed and then the person who was tested is informed of the negative result Of the test.