US medical staff delayed coronavirus test of first infected patient: Whistleblower

A lawmaker has reportedly revealed on February 27 that the California woman who was the first case of deadly coronavirus in the United States with an unknown origin was not tested for five days by the medical staff. The new development comes amid media reports citing a whistleblower complaint that the federal health workers had interacted with the quarantined patients in two California air bases in the absence of proper gear or training before they were dispersed around the country. The California woman is also from one of these cities, Travis Air Force Base in Solano County. 

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According to an international news agency, in a congressional hearing, US Representative Ami Bera said that the patient was admitted to the University of California Davis Medical Center on February 19. She was quickly placed on ventilator and doctors asked the submission of sample for coronavirus test to federal authorities. However, it was only after her condition worsened on February 23 when “ultimately the patient did get tested”, said Bera, a doctor who has previously worked in the same hospital. He reportedly claimed that he learned about the incident from his former colleagues. 

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Virus no longer contained in US?

While the test took place days later, reports also state that it took an additional three days for the positive test result to return. It was then on February 26, when the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) declared the first suspected case of community transmission. This also implies that the source of infection still remains unknown, and that fatal coronavirus is no longer contained. According to an international news agency, if this development is confirmed, it would lead to a complicated battle of the US against the virus.

Meanwhile, the coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19 has now claimed at least 2,744 deaths in China with confirmed cases being 78,497 only in the mainland. It has further spread to at least 50 countries with Antarctica being the only continent without a single virus case. Several other deaths have also occurred in Iran, South Korea, Japan, Italy, and Hong Kong. The World Health Organisation (WHO), has however called for more transparency from all countries. The WHO chief, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus accused certain countries of not sharing detailed data with the United Nations health agency which can increase the struggle of containing an easily spread coronavirus.

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(With agency inputs)