Twelve people infected with the coronavirus were falsely told they had tested negative, and at least one was hospitalized.

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A person is tested for the coronavirus. Getty

• The state health department incorrectly reported a dozen people who underwent the coronavirus test in Delaware, and at least one man is now hospitalized.
• The Delaware Department of Health and Social Services said the 12 people were initially informed by phone that their test results were negative due to “an internal error in the DPH system.”
• Kevin Evans, a Delaware resident who was told he was negative on July 21, was hospitalized two days later.
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Initially, a dozen people who had a coronavirus test done in Delaware were incorrectly reported by the state health department to be negative, and at least one man is now hospitalized.

The Delaware Department of Health and Social Services said the 12 people, all infected with the virus, were told by phone that their test results were negative due to “an internal error in the DPH system.”

“In association with Walgreens, 2,791 samples were collected for processing through the Delaware Public Health Laboratory in the first week of testing. In the process of delivering results, 12 people who tested positive for COVID-19 inadvertently received Negative results over the phone due to an internal DPH error, “the department said in a statement to CNN.

The department noted that there were no problems with sample collection at the three Walgreens locations where the tests were conducted.

Delaware resident Kevin Evans and his family were tested for Covid-19 after one of their three daughters tested positive on July 17. Kevin and his wife, Katey, were informed that Kevin and their previously positive daughter both tested negative on July 21. But Kevin’s health continued to deteriorate and he was hospitalized on July 23.

“At 2 o’clock in the morning, he woke up and was vomiting,” Katey Evans said in a video she posted on Facebook. “She became very dehydrated in the middle of the night, she was very dizzy, she was unconscious, and at 3 or 4 in the morning, I said, I think she needs to go to the hospital.” “

While Katey was waiting in the parking lot outside the hospital when she received a call from hospital staff informing her that her husband’s Walgreens test results were truly positive and incorrectly transmitted to her.

Katey contacted a local elected official, State Senator Brian Pettyjohn, to explain the situation, and Pettyjohn contacted the state health department. The family was later informed that their daughter’s negative test was also incorrect.

State officials said that after reviewing the 2,791 samples collected at the Walgreens locations, they determined that no one was given a false-positive diagnosis.

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