Evidence from the Italian patient who arrived in Puerto Rico on a cruise ship last week with symptoms of coronavirus they were incorrectly presented to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, the agency confirmed to journalist David Begnaud, who offered the information on his social networks.
The journalist had asked the CDC for an explanation as to why the results of the exams carried out on the woman have taken more than a week under analysis. The agency replied to the reporter that they work to deliver the results in 48 hours “As long as the samples arrive in the proper condition and accompanied by the required documentation”.
Upon his response, Begaud questioned whether the CDC’s expressions imply that the evidence sent by the Health Department had any problem in the way they were submitted or with their paperwork, and the answer was affirmative.
El Nuevo Día made arrangements with the CDC and the Department of Health to receive confirmation of this information, but at the time of publishing this note, we received no response.
“I asked the CDC is that what they are saying and I am reading the between the lines correctly. They answered yes, that I was interpreting what they wrote correctly ”, said the journalist on his Twitter social network.
BREAKING: @CDCgov confirms that patient samples from Puerto Rico that were sent to the CDC for # COVID_19 testingweren’t in the proper condition & didn’t have accurate documentation. Despite that, CDC expects to deliver test results to the island within 24 to 36hrs. Watch report: pic.twitter.com/dxETijR8BE
– David Begnaud (@DavidBegnaud) March 13, 2020
Having said that, the CDC said it does not need the samples submitted again and that they are in the process of obtaining the results with the samples they received and the documentation provided. They said it took more than expected for the two reasons I told them, “he added.
An official whom Begnaud did not identify told him that the delay is not because they are treating the island differently.
“It is as simple as we did not receive the appropriate documentation and we did not receive the samples in the way they should be submitted and that is why it took longer,” the official told the journalist.
The 68-year-old patient arrived in Puerto Rico last Sunday aboard the Costa Luminosa cruise ship, which disembarked in San Juan. She is treated in a hospital by personnel from the Health Department after presenting respiratory symptoms.
In the afternoon of today, Senator Rossana López denounced that the woman’s evidence was sent to the CDC on Wednesday, contrary to what Governor Wanda Vázquez said on Monday.
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