Coronavirus: State health department begins refusing GP tests
WA Health officials, including chief health officer Dr Andrew Robertson, have introduced new restrictions due to a shortage of testing supplies
WA’s public pathology laboratories will reject all coronavirus swabs from GPs in Perth as the state faces an acute shortage of the chemical reagent used in the diagnostic tests.
The move comes after GPs Australia-wide were told last week to restrict coronavirus testing only to those patients who met national criteria, because of a “rapid deterioration” of testing kit and PPE stocks.
WA health officials say the company making reagent chemicals used by its pathology labs could no longer guarantee supply.
“WA has made this decision because we need to act now to protect the community,” the state’s Chief Health Officer Dr Andrew Robertson said.
