Montreal health agency unable to analyze COVID-19 tests in time, throws out thousands

Lauren Aghabozorgi got news she had been in contact with somebody with COVID-19 on Jan. 2 and she immediately went into isolation.

But a couple days later, she decided to confirm she had good reason to quarantine. So she headed out for a PCR test at a nearby clinic in northern Montreal.

"As I was waiting for results, which I never got, I completed an isolation of about 10 days at home," she said.

Aghabozorgi attended online classes, but stayed inside. She didn't even go get groceries despite never getting results.

She got an email this week, roughly 14 days after the test, telling her that the sample was tossed out because it couldn't be analyzed in time.

"I am not surprised," she said, but it left her disappointed in the health-care system.

The health agency in northern Montreal, CIUSSS du Nord-de-l'Île-de-Montréal, says in a news release Wednesday that laboratory limits were exceeded between Jan. 3 and 7, resulting in the loss of 5,462 COVID-19 tests because they could not be analyzed within 72 hours.

The agency says the sharp increase in demand for screenings at the start of the year coupled with successive equipment failures were behind the mishap.

The samples were destroyed and the users concerned were informed, the release says.

"We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused our users," the CIUSSS says.

At-risk patients are encouraged to get re-tested if they still have symptoms, but everybody else can take a rapid test if they have symptoms, the release says.

Aghabozorgi said she was left wondering if she had COVID or not, and was unsure if she should get her booster shot. Quebec had previously encouraged people to wait at least eight weeks before getting a vaccine dose.

"I don't know if I had COVID or not," she said.

However, people like Aghabozorgi can go get the shot, according to Quebec Public Health.