Posted by Why does WA not test in private to increase capacity so we can be like Queensland who have tested more than double per head than us?
Private pathology are equipped and ready. Use it now.
Help people like this.
Comment: Dear Dr Miller,
Please help me, as my doctor is furious that I can’t get tested. I am a teacher at XXX Senior High School that has >2000 students and >300 staff. It would appear that since I became ill and was placed on sick leave, five teachers who sit near me in the office are presently absent from school.
Summary:
I am a teacher at XXX Senior High School. I had a stress-induced heart attack in February. The heart has healed and it seems to be fine. However, on Wednesday, 26 February, a good friend of mine returned sick from a cruise to Singapore. She thought that she had caught a travel bug and when she got home, she stayed home for a few days and she chose not to get tested for Covid19 (self-isolation was not enforced at that stage and testing was voluntary).
On Saturday, 7 March my friend felt fine and I met with her for coffee.
On Monday, 9 March I woke up with a sore throat, a cough and breathlessness. Due to my recent heart condition, I was told that I may experience some breathlessness.
On Thursday, 12 March the breathlessness had increased and I started experiencing heaviness in my chest when breathing. I had also started sweating in class, feeling dizzy, coughing and had a headache. I was directed by my deputy principal to ring the HelpLine as the school was concerned about my heart. The HelpLine put me onto St. John Ambulance and an ambulance was dispatched to my school. I was taken to Fiona Stanley Hospital by the ambulance. Tests were done on my heart and it was established that my heart was fine. However, I was still ill (coughing, fever, sneezing, headache and breathlessness). I had been asked if I had travelled or been in contact with someone who had travelled. As I teach in a large multicultural school, I couldn’t identify anyone. Consequently, I was not tested for the Corona Virus. A few hours later, I was released by the hospital and was informed to see my doctor.
Friday, 13 March I had a consultation with my doctor who placed me on a course of antibiotics for a chest infection. Although I displayed Corona symptoms, I didn’t meet the testing criteria and could not be tested.
Tuesday, 17 March I had another consultation with my doctor who gave me another course of antibiotics as I still had all of the previous symptoms. At this stage, I remembered that I had coffee with a friend who had returned sick from a cruise to Singapore. However, once again, I did not meet the testing criteria and could not be tested, as my friend had chosen not to get tested on her return to Perth. My doctor gave me directions to self-isolate.
Tuesday, 24 March; I am still sick and my doctor has placed me on my third course of antibiotics and I have been given the directions to self-isolate again. My doctor feels frustrated as I still fall outside of the testing criteria, yet I am still ill. My recent medical certificate states,
‘Ms XXX has ongoing bronchitis with cough and fever, and there was contact with a traveller
from Singapore who was symptomatic on 7/3/2020. I cannot rule out COVID and it would be
advisable for XXXX to self isolate till she’s completely well.’
Please help as the testing criteria need to change to include community transmission.
Kind regards
Time: March 26, 2020 at 11:46 am
IP Address: 58.7.200.242
Utterly ludicrous and terrifying. Isolate,Test, Trace …and repeat … Thank you Andrew for being a voice in the wilderness.