TD’S WIFE LEFT WAITING EIGHT DAYS FOR HSE TO CONTACT HER

A TD’S school-teacher wife was left waiting eight days for the HSE to contact her after she was identified as a close contact through the Covid Tracker App.

Cork teacher, and wife of Sinn Féin’s Thomas Gould, Michelle, eventually took action herself and sought a test through her GP.

The test came back negative eight days after the app notified her that she was a close contact. On the same day as the app notified her, one of her fellow teachers was diagnosed positive with Covid-19 – and this had only amplified her anxiety.

Deputy Gould, who was self-isolating with his wife until she got the negative test result back, broached the issue with Health Minister Stephen Donnelly in the Dáil.

‘My wife is a secondary school teacher and last Thursday she was notified by the Covid app that she was a close contact of someone who had tested positive, he said.

‘The same day, her school notified her that a positive case in the school had been confirmed, but after risk assessing the situation, she was not deemed to be a close contact.

‘She was told by the app that she would receive a phone call within 24 hours from the HSE, to outline whether she was affected and if the close contact was correct or if it was the same case as in the school. Eight days later she has still not received a phone call.’

Ms Gould eventually took action into her own hands after she was left waiting for so long, and called her GP to arrange a test.

Mr Gould said: ‘My wife contacted her own GP on Tuesday to arrange a test the following day and yesterday afternoon she got back the results to say that she was negative. Notified by Covid app: Thomas Gough and his wife Michelle