After more than a week of trying, the family of a woman who died of the novel coronavirus in Los Angeles County finally got tested for the deadly virus.
“The test results come in today; my uncle and stepmom are both negative, but he’s positive,” Victoria Do and Katharina Fahardo told NBCLA Monday, referring to their father as the only one of the three to test positive.
Victoria and Katharina’s father traveled with their stepmother, uncle and aunt Loretta. Loretta, 68, died shortly after returning from the Philippines earlier this month, with the hospital confirming she was positive for COVID-19.
Loretta’s husband, who performed CPR on his wife before she passed, and the other two people family members who traveled to Asia were finally able to get tested, but not until 10 days after Loretta died.
And all three had to go private to get the tests, paying out of pocket.
The daughters said, “I got kind of, very concerned right away because what if, God forbid, he got someone else. Who knows?”
They say their father is feeling better and continues to self-isolate, but they feel LA County’s public health system failed them and others who are desperately trying to get tested.
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“That’s my fear, that we come across people who are positive,” the Walnut said. “How hard is it for us to be tested? Would it be too late for our loved ones?”
The Walnut family believes all three of their loved ones had coronavirus at one point, seeing as they all had fevers and had been on the trip together, but they believe the delayed tests impacted the results.
The sisters said their father will be released from isolation on Friday.
