A couple from Sydney who became unwell went to their doctor but were refused a test for coronavirus. It turned out they had it.

A couple from Sydney who became unwell went to their doctor but were refused a test for coronavirus. It turned out they had it.

A young Sydney couple who went to be tested for coronavirus were refused because they didn’t meet the criteria – and then they tested positive.

Alex Lewis said she and her boyfriend Ed fell ill at the same time and with the same symptoms a few weeks ago.

“I had a bit of a cold, it was like a mild dry cough, then I woke up the next morning with a full-blown flu, the headache, fever, chills, body ache, exhaustion, that kind of thing,” Ms Lewis told ABC’s 7.30 last night.

But they hadn’t been overseas or come into contact with anyone who had a confirmed case of coronavirus.

As a result, their doctor declined to test them because they weren’t in the category of those patients who warranted it.

RELATED: Follow the latest coronavirus updates

RELATED: What are the coronavirus symptoms?

“We both were having similar symptoms and we were both turned away as we had not been in contact with anyone with coronavirus,” she told the program.

The pair returned to work but three days later, a friend tested positive for coronavirus and they went back to their doctor.

Ms Lewis and her partner were finally tested last week. They had coronavirus.

“The first shock of being diagnosed was pretty intense, feeling sad and confused and worried for the people we had seen,” Ms Lewis told the program. “The fear of giving it to someone who is a little bit more vulnerable is definitely on our minds.”

They’re now into their seventh day of isolation

Australia is facing a critical shortage of test kits and health authorities are urging people to avoid “panic testing”.

But the Australian Medical Association yesterday warned that the horse has bolted. The country has one of the highest testing rates in the world, per capita.

Put simply, we’re running out of test kits – as well as other medical equipment like masks.

“We have a team that’s working with pathology providers,” Health Minister Greg Hunt told reporters yesterday.