A 13-year-old California boy died after experiencing the symptoms of COVID-19, despite testing negative for the disease a week earlier, according to reports.
Maxx Cheng, a swimmer with big dreams of going to the Olympics, started feeling ill on July 4 with symptoms including nausea, vomiting, and chest pain, his family told KCBS-TV in Los Angeles.
The teen’s mother took him for a coronavirus test on July 9, and the results were puzzling.
“Her symptoms matched, but then the test came back negative. So we were a little confused, ”said Charlotte Cheng, Maxx’s 21-year-old sister.
Despite the negative results, the seventh grader continued to isolate himself in his room due to continued symptoms.
Symptoms, which also included fever and cough, began to subside last week. But on Thursday night, “we went to see him, as we normally do [and] I wasn’t responding, “said her sister.
“We found him passed out in the room.”
An autopsy is underway to determine the cause of the boy’s death and whether he really had COVID-19. The results are expected in the coming days, according to the media.
The Cheng family said they had been very careful, even before Maxx became ill, so they did not know where he could have contracted the disease.
Her death sent shock waves through the community, with a group of local mothers who established a GoFundMe to help the family with the funeral arrangements.
In Los Angeles County, about seven percent of confirmed coronavirus cases involve children, according to health officials.
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