The story of a key worker being denied her coronavirus test results is damning

A family have allegedly been denied access to their coronavirus (Covid-19) test results, despite one member being a key worker. The story raises yet more questions over the government’s handling of the pandemic. But it also begs the question: how many more key workers are in this situation? The Canary would like to hear from you if you are.

“You will never receive your results”

Cornwall Live reported on the story on Wednesday 29 April. It had been contacted by a woman who claimed that her daughter is a key worker. This is because she works in a supermarket. The father had coronavirus symptoms, and the daughter’s job meant they could get government testing. So they applied for a test and went to their nearest testing centre at the Seaton army barracks in Plymouth. They had the tests and tried to register online. But they kept getting error messages. So the mother phoned the national helpline. And it’s here where the story gets worrying.

The operator on the helpline reportedly asked the mother:

hang on a minute, are you a keyworker or a frontline worker?

She explained her daughter was, to which the operator said:

you will never receive your results.

The woman told Cornwall Live that:

I lost my s*** to this poor, poor woman on the phone I said this can’t be right. Then I said to her that this is the government getting their 100,000 tests done – she didn’t reply.

At no point when my daughter registered or on any of the information we were given did it state that we would not get our results.

I feel I have been violated. When I was on the phone my partner took the phone and spoke to the operator and asked that as we would not get our results if all our information and our swabs could be removed – they said no. If we are not allowed the results then why should the government have that information?

“Pure evil”

People on social media were shocked by the story:

Woman in Helston, Cornwall told she's not allowed her test results. Govt has contact details, phone number email address. What possible purpose does this serve @MattHancock? https://t.co/JZYWZRQ6id

— Helen Pen (@quiscustodis) April 30, 2020

This is absolutely shocking

This government is pure evil

Key workers don't get results it's just so targets are met#COVID19 @MattHancock @piersmorgan @Keir_Starmer @UKLabour #Tory

https://t.co/HWNV908eW8

— 𝓛𝓲𝓷𝓭𝓪 (@candylush) April 30, 2020

Coronavirus chaos

The Canary asked the Department of Health and Social Care for comment on the allegations. But it had not responded at the time of publication.

Meanwhile, the story comes as the controversy over coronavirus testing continues to grow. As of 4:00pm on Thursday 30 April, it was still unclear whether the government had reached its 100,000 tests a day target. But as BBC News reported, it was looking like it wouldn’t happen. Moreover, as openDemocracy exposed previously, some of the tests have been shown not to detect coronavirus in 25% of cases.

But ultimately, the woman who couldn’t get her test results thinks it’s all part of Tory spin on coronavirus. As she told Cornwall Live:

We have been watching over the last three months as the government just makes it up as they go along and now they have this testing just so they can stand in their press conferences and say they have reached their target.

Get involved

So, have you had coronavirus testing as a key worker? And have you been told you can’t have your results? Or have they been delayed? What advice were you given about your results? If you have a story related to this issue, The Canary would like to hear from you. The best way to get in touch is to email us via [email protected] . But you can also reach us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Or you can comment as a member on this article. We’d be honoured to hear from you.