Adelanto Mayor Pro Tem Gerardo Hernandez has spent weeks in the intensive care unit fighting for his life. His story demonstrates, not only the seriousness of the coronavirus, but the difficulty of getting a reliable test.
Hernandez first got sick in late February. He was rushed to the hospital by ambulance on March 18. It took eight more days for his COVID-19 results to get processed and the first swab returned a negative result. It took a second swab to confirm Hernandez had COVID-19.
Hernandez’s wife believes the delay prevented her husband from receiving treatment that could have improved his prognosis. Today, the rest of his family is having trouble getting tested.
As the Los Angeles Times reports, Hernandez’s story is not unique.
Several doctors have raised concerns that patients who almost certainly have COVID-19, including the characteristic pneumonia visible on a CT scan, are testing negative for the virus. A paper from China that was released before it was peer reviewed found that as many as 27% of patients with COVID-19 tested negative for the virus with a nasal swab test.“The old dictum that we were taught in medical school is that clinical suspicion prevails. I don’t think that’s going to fail us ever,” said Dr. Neha Nanda, USC infectious disease specialist. “The sensitivity [of the test] is just a little bit up in the air.”
Repeat testing sometimes yields positives, perhaps because there is more virus in the patient’s body as symptoms become more severe, experts say. But for patients like Hernandez who are severely ill, doctors typically continue to treat patients as though they have COVID-19 even if the results are negative. There are not yet medicines proven to work for COVID-19, so doctors are mostly addressing the symptoms regardless.
The result can be deadly for nurses or doctors who return to the field after getting a false negative and pass it to others.
Today, at 38 years old, Hernandez is unable to breathe on his own. His organs are not functioning properly and he is unconscious. Doctors have tried experimental treatments like hydroxychloroquine, but he has not responded.
“He is one of the most critical patients they have on their ward right now,” his wife said. “He is on life support ... that’s the scariest thing. I never knew in my entire life I would have to say that about my husband, but he is literally fighting for his life right now.”