False COVID-19 Positives On The Rise In Florida—Will This Become A National Issue?

As the coronavirus epidemic continues its tight grip on the state of Florida, other concerns are rearing their ugly head. Even with testing for COVID-19 being made more readily available, there are continued concerns of just how much of a hold the virus has on the residents of the state.

The problem is not in the testing but with the recorded results themselves. At present, 48 hours is the quickest turnaround for test results. However, the majority of results are taking a week before individuals really know if they are infected or not.

The problems are being compounded by a new snag—getting back test results that aren’t yours, to begin with. Mindy Clark of Sarasota said: “I got a call for me, and they told me I had tested positive. I was like, ‘Positive for what?’ Then, the lady said for COVID, and I said ‘That’s impossible, I never got tested, Ma’am,'”

It seems Clark had waited in line at Manatee Rural Health, in their drive-thru test sight, having already registered for her test. However, when she realized it was the line for those individuals presenting with symptoms only, she left before she was swabbed.

Clark continued to say: “I told them they needed to take this off my record, and they said I had to prove to them that I wasn’t positive.” She proceeded two days later to test negative for COVID, as well as testing negative for any antibodies.

What is all the more surprising is that Clark is not the only Floridian that this seems to be happening to.

She says that if others have been identified incorrectly as positive for COVID in the system, and do so easily, just how accurate are the daily numbers released? It seems while all of these errors are being made, the virus is able to continue spreading because those people with COVID are not being identified.

Clark expressed the anxiety that many may be feeling. She makes the valid point that the times are already so bad. That everyone is already so nervous and trying so hard to move through their days as normal as possible. These types of mistakes only cause more anxiety and worry in people.

Those individuals in Florida who have received a test result, but were in fact never tested, are strongly encouraged to contact their local Florida Department of Health. The results need to be removed from both your personal health record and the official COVID-19 database.

Will there be reports of these types of mishaps reported in other states?