Report Of Hawaii’s First COVID-19 Death Was Inaccurate
The health department will re-test all samples for accuracy going forward.
Hawaii’s first death presumed to be related to COVID-19 turned out to be an error.
“Internal communication of a COVID-19 test at the Deptartment of Health resulted in a report being misread and initiated a retest of samples today from an Oahu adult, who died on March 20th,” the department said in an emailed statement. Tuesday evening, a second test returned negative for COVID-19.
DOH Director Bruce Anderson said the department was making an effort to get the news out in a timely manner.
鈥淚 accept all responsibility for not verifying reporting procedures,” he said. “We鈥檙e immediately instituting measures to ensure this doesn鈥檛 happen again. My condolences to the family and friends of the person who passed away and our apologies for any undue anxiety this caused.鈥
The test first conducted by a private laboratory was inconclusive, and the state laboratories were notified and began to verify it about two days after the death.
“We have developed a policy to require retesting of samples because we want to ensure our results are accurate,” Anderson said Tuesday.
Dr. Sarah Park, state epidemiologist, said Tuesday the clinical management, regardless of whether the person had COVID-19 or not, would have been the same.
