Watsonville man awaits COVID-19 test results for over a week
WATSONVILLE, Calif. (KION) A Watsonville man is still waiting for his COVID-19 test results about a week after being checked.
Jaime says he has been coughing heavily and experiencing shortness of breath, isolating himself in his home in a room from his family, including three children. He says he started getting sick on March 17 with those two symptoms, which are also two symptoms of the coronavirus.
The Watsonville Community Hospital admitted him in about a week ago, where Jaime was diagnosed with community-acquired pneumonia. He tested negative for the flu, but took the COVID-19 test and was told to go home and self-quarantine for 14 days.
Santa Cruz County, he was told, would call him in three to five days if the results tested positive. We are now at Day 7 and Jaime still has not received a call. His symptoms have not improved either.
Jaime hopes someone will just tell him if he has the coronavirus as he wants to return to life with his family. His discharge paperwork says if his trouble breathing worsens, he should go back to the emergency room.
He says he called the City of Watsonville for help. He says WCH nor the 211 line have not been able to help him, and he's hoping the answers will come sooner rather than later.
Watsonville Community Hospital responded to KION's request for comment by outlining the process for testing.
If the patient is at the hospital in critical condition and showing symptoms of COVID-19, the test is sent to the Santa Cruz Health Department, according to the hospital. After that, the department sends it to the Santa Clara County Health Department.
In other cases, tests are sent to Quest Diagnostics, and the hospital said it could take 6 to 7 days to get results. A spokesperson for the hospital said there was a delay, but Quest Diagnostics said tests are caught up from a week ago. If someone was tested and does not hear back within 6 or 7 days, the spokesperson recommends calling the hospital or other place where the test was done.
