Marlborough Weekly - 25 August 2020

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Tuesday 25 August 2020

Sixty years of marriage

Rugby finalists found

Page 7

Page 18

Guides’ attitude a winner

Keyboard error sparks Covid fears

Paula Hulburt

Accidently hitting the wrong key on a computer sparked fears Covid-19 had returned to the region. A Covid-19 test was accidently recorded as positive after a manual entry error. Community Based Assessment Centre staff in Blenheim were alerted after the positive result was lodged at a laboratory in Nelson. Staff discovered the mistake three hours later after lab staff checked the results. The patient was not told of the positive result. Medlab South Nelson Marlborough Clinical Microbiologist Dr Juliet Elvy says a manual entry error is to blame for the mix up. “A manual entry error was made in recording the result for a Covid-19 test – due to a key stroke error. “The incorrect test result was passed on to the Medical Officer of Health and that notification was withdrawn immediately after the error was detected – about three hours later.” Southern Community

Come wind, rain and shine, a devoted group of girl guides take care of can recycling. Picton Girl Guides work hard to run three aluminium can recycling banks in the community. And their work has won them a top five place in a national competition. The team’s work has seen them make the finals of the Mitre 10 Helping Hands awards where they hope to win some help to replace their run-down storage compound. While voting has now closed, the girls are keeping their fingers crossed they win enough votes to make their reno dream come true. Picton Girl Guide leader Helen Ashworth says the project means a lot to the girls. “Community service is an important part of modern guiding and has been at the very core of guiding since it started over 100 years ago. “We have great fun doing this project. Dressing up in our gloves and gumboots to jump on the cans to crush them before storage SEE PAGE 2

Paula Hulburt

RECYCLE CHAMPIONS: Picton Girl Guides help recycle thousands of cans every year. Photo: Helen Ashworth.

Laboratories (SCL) run the labs at Nelson Hospital and Wairau Hospitals. All Covid-19 swabs taken by the SCL run Medlab laboratory in Marlborough are sent to Nelson after first being processed at Wairau Hospital. Dr Elvy says the error was detected before the incorrect result was given to the person who had been tested. Processes have been changed in the wake of the incident. “We now have processes in place which mean we no longer rely on manual entry of test results, and all validation of manually entered tests is done by a second scientist,” she says. The member of staff had been doing an eight-hour shift at the lab when the error occurred. Laboratories in both Marlborough and Nelson have been swamped processing Covid-19 swabs. Between 13 and 23 August alone, a total of 3210 tests were done in Nelson SEE PAGE 2

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Marlborough Weekly - 25 August 2020 by TSM Marlborough - Issuu