Covid 19 coronavirus: Nurse who had to fake symptoms, accent just to get tested for virus comes back positive

A nurse in Canada who had to fake symptoms of Covid-19 in order to receive a test has had her result come back positive. Photo / Facebook

A nurse in Canada who had to fake symptoms of Covid-19 in order to receive a test has had her result come back positive.

Kristy-Lyn Kemp, who lives in Quebec, called a hotline on Sunday to request a Covid-19 test.

But she was turned away even after explaining that she worked at a home care facility that had experienced a Covid-19 outbreak, the CBC reported.

"I told them I was coming from a Covid-positive environment, but I was completely asymptomatic. They told me I didn't need a test," Kemp told the outlet.

Not happy with the response, she then called back, faking a French accent so they wouldn't suspect her and told them she had a fever and a cough.

"I made up symptoms. I said I had a fever and a cough. And that's when they gave me an appointment," Kemp said.

A nurse in Canada who had to fake symptoms of Covid-19 in order to receive a test has had her result come back positive. Photo / Facebook

Less than 24 hours after getting tested, her result came back positive.

Kemp resigned from her previous role a month earlier, and was desperate to receive a test because she feared she could start an outbreak of Covid-19 at her new job at a care home in a different town.

She says if she had been at fault for a new outbreak, she'd have been devastated.

"Had I brought it to the new place, I don't know what I would have done. I would have been absolutely devastated," Kemp said.

"Had I brought it to the new place, I don't know what I would have done. I would have been absolutely devastated," she said.

Thirty three residents at her previous job had died of complications from Covid-19.

The facility is now subject to three inquiries, inclding a criminal investigation by Montreal police.

A spokesman for the region's Ministry of Health said screening priorities are for symptomatic health professionals in direct contact with patients. Staffers at CHSLD Résidence Herron are tested, with or without symptoms, he said.

Kemp said she didn't understand how she was able to fall through the cracks.

"The consequences could have been catastrophic," she said.

She now has to wait until she has two back-to-back negative Covid-19 tests before starting her new job.