Here’s how a coronavirus patient got released from a California hospital, CDC says
A woman with coronavirus mistakenly was released from a San Diego hospital Sunday because of a simple mix-up in blood samples at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Three of the samples from four patients brought to the UC San Diego Medical Center from quarantine at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar were not labeled in accord with CDC rules, KGTV reports.
Those samples were not immediately processed as a result, but the CDC mistakenly informed the hospital all four samples were negative, according to the station.
The patients, including the woman, were returned to quarantine at the airbase, where they spent the night, McClatchy News previously reported. When the CDC notified health officials of the woman’s positive results Monday, she returned to the hospital.
The woman is in good condition and has minimal symptoms, KGTV reported.
The hospital says it was not notified of the change in labeling procedures and the samples were labeled to protect patient privacy, the Los Angeles Times reports.
The CDC is now working with local health officials to try to determine whether the woman had contact with others at the airbase, said Principal Deputy Director Anne Schuchat, the Times of San Diego reports.
“The preliminary information I had is that there was very limited contact,” Schuchat said, according to the publication. “But I think that’s being reassessed at this point.”
Another evacuee who showed symptoms of the virus also was hospitalized Monday, health officials say.
The woman had arrived last week at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar along with other evacuees on a U.S. State Department flight, CNN reported. The evacuees are staying at the airbase during a 14-day quarantine period.
Another group of 200 evacuees was released Tuesday from March Air Reserve Base in Riverside, California, after completing their 14-day quarantine, KTLA reports.
Other evacuees remain at various military bases while several cruise ships around the world also have been quarantined.
More than 42,000 people have come down with the virus, mostly in China, where more than 1,100 have died, CBS News reports.
The San Diego case is the 13th confirmed in the United States and the third in California, CNN reports.
This story was originally published February 12, 2020 at 7:48 AM with the headline "Here’s how a coronavirus patient got released from a California hospital, CDC says."