Virus test
 

My daughter sent me a message about her friend who went to get tested with 2 buddies. The line was so long they didn’t wait after they got tired of being there. They got reports saying they tested positive, which was impossible to know. Since I remembered other online reports of this, I decided to post it on FB this morning in an effort to say that it seems this is really happening. With seconds I got a nasty reply saying in a round about way I was lying. I had a glut of emotions. How would you respond or not, to this?

False Positives
 

It's been reported on fox news for days that this is happening. The CDC says it very "RARE" I believe your daughter, more than the CDC. I think some of the LABS should be vetted better. Len

I would not respond.

I personally know 3 people that went to get tested, checked in, and waited for their turn. The testing centers seemed very disorganized, and they were told it would be a 1.5 to 2 hour wait. All three left without being tested. 3 days later they received their positive test results in the mail. The numbers are completely unreliable. Oh, and the CDC has REDUCED their number of COVID deaths. They removed the people that died of other causes, such as car crash, but tested positive post mortem and they are now separating "regular" flu deaths from the COVID numbers. Appears until now, just about any death has been coded as COVID. With the changes, it proves the death rate is now almost exactly the same as the normal flu, but you won't hear that in most media.
The death rate in the US has been steadily declining, we are almost to a rate that no longer qualifies as a "pandemic". They say "follow the science", but it seems some science is more equal than others.

The Lab got paid for the 3 phony test TOO. Makes you wonder

I'd just let it go. You're reporting a second-hand story and some people are simply not going to believe you, nor will your protestations to the contrary convince them otherwise.

Online debates, especially with anonymous strangers, rarely end with raised awareness and pleasant feelings.

Yea, I understand. All those people suddenly filling up the morgues and the hospital beds in Texas and Arizona and Florida and California really are suffering from the "New Summer Covid+Flu" disease. Down in Brazil they are filling up all those mass graves with flu suffers and people killed in car accidents who just also happened to have Covid-19. I also don't believe your "I personally know 3 people" story for one second. Someone else quoted the identical story about "3 people they knew" also in another thread here. I guess it always comes in 3's. Sounds like "fake news" or 3 party hand me down stories.

Perhaps need to be careful reading the report. No show's are assumed to think they have or may have been exposed to COVID so are cautioned to act accordingly unless the receive a negative result,

2 prominent NY doctors have stated the Stats are incorrect
 

Dr. Oz & Siegel (NYU Med. Sch,)have both stated the numbers being released are incorrect. Both had verified their claims receiving confrontation that the mistakes appear to be wide spread in the reported during this “Spike” of reported cases.

Testing
 

I know of one person who had the same story, line too long, left and got notified positive test.

I have heard the same story from my daughter in New England and a friend in Michigan neither of them talk this is all I can find on internet. Anything is possible with text message notification. Questions should always be followed with who what when and wear. Hearing from a friend of a friend is always questionable.

Link
 

Donate blood. They test for antibodies and let you know the results.

The poor guy that was killed in a motorcycle accident in FL. His death was reported to be from covid. Another +$3,000 to the hospital.

Not

It’s interesting that a community of high risk people, age alone, are constantly arguing about numbers of people who died. If you are over 55 you are high risk. Follow precautions recommended.

As much as 50% tests are false positives, higher in other states.

I am also aware of a person who waited in the car line, filled out the paperwork and handed it in. The person could not wait any longer than the two hours already there and left, not getting tested. Two days later they were notified their results were positive. It's messed up.

Wait..you are saying, the site had their names, they were never tested, then they were notified they tested positive? I’d call that fraud, and they should report that to the Department of Health.
I hope I misread this, because if this is what happened, this needs to be investigated.
What testing site did this occur? You are not the only one reporting such a story.

if only we had a good national testing program.....

Thank you for reporting this. It needs to be looked at. If the numbers are wrong, and I’m sitting here isolating, that frosts me. I want to have accurate information so I know how to proceed.
You are not the only person reporting this situation. People not being tested who are told they are positive, is fraud, period. I’d report that to the Department of Health.

USA has a real testing mess that is just part of the overall response mess: seems like leadership issue to me.

I also know 2 friends in FL that had same thing happen. They each had appointments and cancelled going elsewhere. Both received positive results 2 to 3 days later from a test that never happened. Also told that people testing positive, their jobs are requiring tests every other day til they are negative of which then their quarantine starts. Each test of this same person counts as a new positive. Way inflating.

Well, you can add four more people to the list that that happened to. Two different couples we know had the same thing happen to them. Filled out paperwork, stood in line, decided to leave without testing, and got a letter in the mail saying they were positive. This whole thing is a political mess.

So you think since it is only 140,000 deaths there is nothing to worry about? What about the other conquests that most that have gotten sick have even when they get better, but they have lifelong disability? If nothing else, how about all the folks who got sick and because of the medical bills( WALLET) that will bankrupt them for the rest of their lives.
No big deal here, until it is.

And here . . . .
 

What y'all have got here is someone poopoo-ing on the science and truth.
Daniel Webster said, "There is nothing so powerful as truth."

In addition, bet y'all could litigate the lab doing this. Whether you win or not hardly matters. It would be one more voice singing the praises of believing in fact and truth. Corruption MUST NOT STAND.

good test
 

We do have good Florida State Testing. I had mine done on last Tuesday at Laurel Manor. They asked for my information (my ID and phone number) when I was ready to be tested. As soon as I gave them the information I was tested right away. They called me the next day with the results. Negative.

How come every report is an "I know someone" story. There are tens of thousands of TOTV users. Did any of you have it happen to yourself? Hundreds or thousands of you have lined up to be tested.

If you really know someone local who claims to have been reported positive when they did not have a test please PM me. I am regularly in touch with the county health authorities who are managing COVID and they would be on top of this in a heartbeat if it were real. I will see to it that your "friends" false report is thoroughly investigated.

Sumter county is NOT notifying people by text. All positive reports are being followed up with telephone calls. If the calls fail then a letter is sent. This may not be true of a private company doing testing, but with HIPAA rules it is extremely unlikely that a text would be considered HIPAA compliant.

Rumors about COVID-19 false positives from Kootenai Health untrue | krem.com

I cannot find a single verified online hit for someone who ditched the line and got a positive report. Someone please post a link to such a story, verified.

False test numbers
 

We have friends who experienced the same thing. They got tired of waiting and a few days later they received emails stating they tested positive. This is one reason it’s hard to believe the numbers

Way to fight the good fight, Mumbles.

Finally. a reality check.

Would it not be terrific and wonderful if our country had ONE plan, ONE voice, and a call for unity in this situation. Seems we are depending on luck.


Rancor between scientists and Trump allies threatens pandemic response as cases surge

Virus test
 

I can believe that probably happened. They do receive money for Covid cases. My best friends dad died, and cause of death was stated as covid. He did have all the symptoms. BUT, they didnt receive the test back till several days after his death. It so happens that it was Covid though. But my point is they classified cause of death as covid before the hospital actually got the results.
BUT- there are a lot of Covid cases out there and it's no joke. I don't care what the numbers are. People are dying. 3 people I know personally lost a parent or grandparent to Covid. Our friends daughter is a doctor and was working the Covid floors in Elmhurst Queens and they were lining the outside back of the hospital with a lot of body bags. Just had no room inside. Very disturbing site.

With the unreliability of these Covid tests, I will not ever be tested unless I'm sick and need to be hospitalized. At that point, I won't have a choice. I am very disappointed in the accuracy of these tests and the reporting process.

Here's an news item I found from the SunSentinel.
No proof exists for rumors of positive COVID results with no actual tests - South Florida Sun-Sentinel
According to the story published on July 13, the Florida Department of Health said, "At this time, we have not had any reports of individuals receiving results from the site without being tested. Results are distributed via labs and questions about false results should be directed to the appropriate testing lab”.

I suggest that your daughter's friend and two buddies report the incident to the Florida Department of Health and a reputable news service.

Here's a news article discussing the testing problems with too many positive results in Florida: "Hospitals dispute DOH account that labs aren't reporting negative results."

As for misreporting, is there a financial incentive for labs to report cases as positive when they're not? Don't they get paid the same either way?

If there is fraud by labs who submit charges for patients they haven't tested, what's the benefit in reporting them as positive instead of negative? Positive results would be much more liable to expose the fraud.

Does anyone have a copy of the notification someone received? If people who haven't been tested are receiving text messages or other notifications that they're positive, that sounds much more likely to be a phishing or hacking scam.

When Covid was first in Florida the concern was that all positive persons were reported to the state. The similar situation exists for all other reportable contagious diseases. If a patient is seen and a lab test done to test for whooping cough and the test is negative, the result is NOT sent to the state. Only positive tests are reported.

Several labs early on believed that the Covid reporting was identical to that for all other diseases, so they only were reporting their positive results. There was no concern early with tracking percent positive. All the old daily reports are available online.

I actually called the Covid hot line in April to ask about one lab with over 200 positive and one negatives. I called the lab and spoke with the director who told me the instruction they had gotten was to just report positives. I suggested they check with the state as I believed their instruction was wrong. You can see that lab on page 20 of the daily report HERE

No one was manipulating data, no one was lying. It was a simple misunderstanding of the state wanting data on Covid in a different manner than it had on other contagious diseases.

This non-reporting of the negative tests is old news and the state has made it clear that all test results are to be reported. After all the state very much wants the percent positive to be low and this will not happen if the negatives are not reported.

The other factor that can occur is that a lab may have two names. And they may be reporting many of their positives using one format and using another for general reporting.

Is it possible that there are still small labs failing to report their negatives, perhaps. But with many thousand positives a day in the state the failure to record a few dozen or hundred negative will make very little difference in the overall rate of positive tests.

You are totally correct that the lab gets paid the same for a positive or a negative result, and there is no reason to report a positive if a test were not done as that would invite much more scrutiny than a negative.

It is really interesting that every one of these unsubstantiated reports of "I never got tested" claims they were told their test was positive. Sounds bogus to me, maybe people with an agenda to cast doubt on the reality of this serious pandemic.

Agree.

Both of my Villages doctors said to wear a mask when inside public places & do not go to restaurants. Other than being over 65 I have no other high risk conditions. Both said they have not eaten out for 6 months. Can use take-out. I will follow their advice. Might not die from Covid, but I do not want to go bankrupt or suffer through it either.

Do you feel take out is safe? If I wouldn't go eat at a restaurant not sure if I would trust the food.