For seven minutes, they thought they were positive

For just a few minutes yesterday, some people who took a test in Easley to determine if they had COVID-19 were led to believe they were infected – only to find out from a second email their results were negative.  101.7/WGOG NEWS spoke with one of the patients tested.  That individual admitted his anxiety level rose during the seven minutes between 9:25 and 9:32 yesterday morning.  At 9:25 came the first email that reported a positive result; 9:32 was the second email that reported negative results.  The second email  Prisma Health Research email stated, “The previous email you received was in error!  Your results are NEGATIVE!!”  State Rep. Neal Collins of Easley also believes it was an error and said, “It’s a lesson that most errors are human errors.”  Collins wrote that in an email.  This morning he said his email speaks for itself and he does not wish to comment further.  By phone call and later by text, we tried to reach a Prisma Health spokeswoman for comment but were not successful at the time of this report.  We also seek a better understanding of how a medical care provider – in this case Prisma Health – reports results whether by phone call or by email.