Two patients at the Caura facility yesterday claimed that they were tested more than three times in the past month and were told yesterday that the latest swabs were “contaminated”.
A total of eight patients had to be re-tested at the Caura facility on Sunday after being told that their previous tests were also “contaminated”.
One female patient, 47, told Guardian Media yesterday that she had been swabbed four times in the last three weeks. She has been at the facility since March 23.
Two of those swabs, taken just two days apart had two different readings.
“My first swab came back positive, but two days later, they tested me again, that came back negative, the third test they said the result was “pending” but then came today (yesterday) and swabbed me again,” she said.
The patient said she was ill and went to San Fernando General Hospital where she was kept isolated before being taken to Caura.
She said that she was now in a room with 10 other patients, all showing no symptoms and not on any medication. Of that ten, she said, eight patients had to be re-tested while two were being allowed to go home.
The patient said after being told the results of her third test was “pending”, she was waiting to hear about her diagnosis on Sunday.
“Then all of a sudden I see the doctor come in with a set of swab in she hand. Allyuh never tell we you was going to swab we today,” she said.
She said the medical officials gave the patients a phone number and told them to call and talk to a psychiatrist if they feel stressed out.
I am patient #7
A male patient, 49 yesterday also said he was utterly frustrated with the lack of information and the improper test results.
The man said he was admitted to the Couva facility and told that he was patient number 7, who tested positive with COVID-19. He was taken to Couva on March 18.
The patient, an offshore worker, came back from his job in Guyana and developed a high fever and his wife called the authorities to have him tested. The day after, with no result to that test, an ambulance came to take him to the Couva facility.
By March 27 his fever was gone and he was showing no symptoms and was taken to Caura.
He was told that he would be there for only two days.
However, some 16 days later, he is still at the Caura facility.
“I had four swabs, one came back positive, the second one came back negative,” he said.
He said in the first 17 days he was at the hospital, he was only swabbed once.
He waited eight days for the results of his first test.
He said that after the third test, he expected to receive another negative and he expected to be told to go home and remain in quarantine for 14 days.
“I have had no symptoms at all,” he said.
“People coming in here sick and on ventilators and getting better and gone home. Why am I still here? Is it because they cannot get the tests done properly?” he asked.
He said that there were no results from his third test.
He and his wife are now weighing their legal options and have asked to get his tests done privately.