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A customer who dined at a Wellington restaurant around the time a person with Covid-19 ate there says he was told it would cost $ 300 for a coronavirus test, and that was his fourth failed attempt to get tested.
The man, who asked not to be identified, said he was rigorous in using the Covid tracking app, but when he showed up in Little Penang around 1:00 p.m. last Friday, it didn’t work, meaning he wasn’t notified. that a Covid positive person had dined there around the same time.
It was Thursday that he read Things about the case and immediately told his boss there was a problem. They told him to work from home and decided to get tested.
He searched online for the nearest test station and found one at Customhouse Quay in central Wellington, although when he got to the address he couldn’t find it. He then tried the City Medical Center at Lambton Quay only to find that he couldn’t get tested there without a referral.
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City Medical confirmed to Things He was only doing tests for patients who were not his with a medical referral.
He then attempted to call his own GP and received an automated message through Healthline when he pressed the option for Covid-related inquiries.
Supplied
A deep cleaning in Little Penang after the visit of two confirmed cases of Covid.
After a long conversation, they told her that she didn’t qualify as a close contact and that there was no need to get tested unless she had symptoms, which she wasn’t, but there was no harm in getting tested anyway.
He was given options of places to go and chose a test station on Taranaki St, but by the time he got there around 4pm, it was closing for the day.
He then found out that Team Medical in Paraparaumu was testing to try to get one there, only to be told that since he had no symptoms, a test would cost him $ 300.
He chose to work from home and hoped he would not develop symptoms.
“I am a bit surprised and disappointed… we encourage you to get tested if you are at risk of contracting Covid. Taking a little detour was a surprise. “
Google maps
Little Penang at The Terrace, where customers tested positive for Covid-19.
A spokeswoman for Green Cross Health, which runs Team Medical, said the man appeared to have been given the wrong information and that the test should have been offered free of charge.
The center charged $ 150 for the tests, but only if people needed the test to travel abroad. That was in accordance with the rules of the Ministry of Health.
Not everyone who presents for a test will receive it, if the clinical opinion is that it is not necessary, but no one should be charged for a test as part of the public health response, said a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Health.
The only test you can charge for is the pre-departure test. The Ministry has no share in the price that can be charged for it.
Capital & Coast health board spokesman Chas Te Runa said authorities will follow up on the issues raised.
Clinics were not allowed to charge for tests
“Anyone has the right to receive a free test in the community, regardless of whether they have symptoms; however, asymptomatic people may need to wait longer for a test in order to prioritize testing for people who show symptoms.”
The Ministry of Health referred the questions to the Wellington Board of Health.
