The Hawaii State Department of Health now says that an adult who died on Oahu on Friday March 20 was negative for COVID-19. On March 23, the DOH had attributed the death to the coronavirus currently sweeping the world.
At the Tuesday, March 24 daily media update on COVID-19, DOH Director Bruce Anderson and state epidemiologist Sarah Park said they were reviewing the tests. The initial test by a private lab was labeled inconclusive, and a followup test by DOH seemed to indicate a positive COVID-19 result.
Tuesday evening, the DOH issued a release saying that internal communication of a COVID-19 test at the Dept. of Health resulted in a report being misread and initiated a retest of samples. The final test on Tuesday evening came back negative for COVID-19.
DOH Director Dr. Bruce Anderson said the focus on Monday was to get information out in a timely manner. Director Bruce Anderson noted that this is an unprecedented situation and agencies are still developing best practices. Anderson said, “I accept all responsibility for not verifying reporting procedures. We’re immediately instituting measures to ensure this doesn’t happen again. My condolences to the family and friends of the person who passed away and our apologies for any undue anxiety this caused.”
