A Wagga resident has voiced his frustration over the long wait for COVID test results coming out of Laverty Pathology's COVID-19 testing clinic in Wagga.
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Last Thursday, Gavin Comtesse and his three children were tested for COVID at the Laverty Pathology drive through clinic in the Playhouse carpark after presenting with symptoms that morning.
Though they were tested at the same time, their results came in at different times. Mr Comtesse's and his eldest son received their negative test results the following evening, while his two youngest children were forced to wait a further 24 hours before receiving their negative test results.
"We got a [text] notification from Laverty the next afternoon saying Laverty have received the samples for both my eldest son and I, and then roughly 7 hours after that, we were deemed negative," he said.
"[However] it wasn't until two days later [after being tested], on Saturday that Laverty [notified to have] received the sample for my other two children, it was 48 hours by the time they had notified to have received the samples."
This has left Mr Comtesse concerned that regional areas are not given the priority by Laverty when it comes to virus, compared to those in metropolitan areas.
"It seems odd that you would take the test here, which is such an important thing as we try to control this pandemic, why not have a lab here that does the test?" he said.
"If all samples are going to Sydney, then there's the delay right there."
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Mr Comtesse works as a community correction officer and is deemed a frontline worker.
But Laverty failed to prioritise his sample as he does not work in Health Care. All previous COVID testing on Mr Comtesse carried out at the showground and on Murray Street (ran by Murrumbidgee Local health District), had a result within 7 hours of a sample being taken.
"I had a colleague, it took her five days to get a COVID result, she had been working from home. It's not functional for us to wait that long."
As it stands, all samples taken at Laverty's drive through clinic are not tested locally.
Instead they are couriered to Sydney once a sample is obtained, where the pathology alone has carried out more than 500,000 COVID-19 tests across NSW for July alone.
In comparison, MLHD COVID samples obtained at their Murray Street location, are tested for the virus in Wagga.
MLHD says patients can expect their results within 24 hours, while Laverty states a 24 to 72 hour average result wait time.
Laverty Pathology said it estimates with current data that "less than 10 per cent of people are waiting more than 48 hours for their results".
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