8 Apr 2020

Coronavirus: Marist College parent spent nine days trying to get tested

From Morning Report, 6:40 am on 8 April 2020

An Auckland woman has spoken out about the nine days it took for her to get a Covid-19 test despite being sick and having a daughter who goes to Marist College - the centre of the country's biggest cluster of the disease.

The woman who was eventually classed as a probable case says she also infected her boss who in turn infected her husband.

During this time her father-in-law died from cancer and she went to a funeral dinner.

She told RNZ reporter Phil Pennington she started to feel unwell on 19 March after her daughter had come down with  a sore throat.

The woman then developed a bad headache but went to work and had a 15 minute meeting with her employer.

She got worse with a fever and cough and on 22 March - the same day parents were told Marist College had the disease - she rang the health line.