Region 10 (Upper Demerara/Upper Berbice) today said that a COVID-19 test on a six-year-old girl who died after breathing problems came back negative.
However, because the test sample was taken from the child’s body 36 hours after it was placed in the morgue there is some doubt as to whether a proper test for the deadly coronavirus could have been done.
Acting Medical Superintendent of the Linden Hospital, Joseph London confirmed in a press release today from Region 10 that the results were negative and noted that her cause of death would be listed as respiratory failure.
He had disclosed to an emergency meeting some days ago that the six-year-old child was rushed to the Emergency Room (ER) suffering from respiratory distress and by the time the medical staff were able to have her transported to Georgetown she died. He had said that the girl was taken to the hospital for mild fever, shortage of breath and tummy pains. He said that the paediatric team immediately conducted some X-rays and other tests after, which it was recommended that she be sent to Georgetown for a higher level of care. He went on to reveal that within 90 minutes of arrangements being made the child died while in the ER.
“While we were waiting to transfer her, she was not maintaining oxygen over 70, which made her unstable for transfer. She was resuscitated to (a) comfortable level and her condition continued to worsen resulting in her dying. Her condition was suspicious; however, we were unable to conduct a test on her,” Dr London had said.
Deputy Chief Medical Officer (DCMO), Dr Karen Boyle who had spoken at the same meeting told those in attendance that it was important that a test be done to ascertain if the girl indeed had COVID-19 or not.
She had warned that because the body was taken to the morgue without the test, being done there was a possibility the results may return negative. She warned that even if it’s negative it doesn’t mean that the girl wasn’t positive for COVID-19.
“It was important for the medical staff to have tested her within 24 hours after she would have died but taking into account that she may have already been taken to the morgue where she is in the fridge I am not sure if the samples being taken off will yield a proper result”, she had said.
She urged the medical officials to have a test done to be able to better understand if the symptoms were indeed as a result of COVID-19.
“I would like to urge the medical team to conduct a test and even if it comes back negative this can be because the sample may have been compromised and not a case whereby, she is negative. With one confirmed case and a possible case within a day of each other it is important that the residents of Region Ten and health authorities here enact their plan immediately as it is evident that COVID has already entered”, she stated.
