A case of an individual with a false positive COVID-19 result during a period of increased prevalence
| Recently, the prevalence of COVID-19 has increased in our locality. Cohorting of suspect and proven patients with a positive result is now necessary. We managed a female patient who tested positive at low level in a single gene (RDRP). She was therefore cohorted into a bay of patients with positive SARS-CoV-2 results. Her result was subsequently viewed by the infectious diseases team who concluded that her result in combination with her clinical history was not compatible with COVID-19. She was therefore re-swabbed and moved out of the positive bay. Two subsequent tests were negative, and the patient did not develop symptoms compatible with COVID-19. Although the patient was moved out of the bay, this did not happen before some exposure may have occurred. Fortunately, however, this individual did not develop COVID-19 but the case serves to highlight the risks of false positive results in this setting. |