A Texas mayor announced Sunday that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention erroneously released a patient from quarantine who later tested positive for COVID-19.
San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg said the woman, who was a part of a group that traveled from Wuhan, China, back to America, initially showed no symptoms and had a negative test result for coronavirus.
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The CDC confirmed it is retesting the individual, who has since been put back into quarantine at a local medical facility after having contact with others. After testing negative twice, the later test determined the patient to be “weakly positive,” the CDC said in a statement.
Nirenberg criticized the Atlanta-based federal agency for making what he calls an “unacceptable” mistake.
“The fact that the CDC allowed the public to be exposed to a patient with a positive COVID-19 reading is unacceptable,” Nirenberg said in a statement. “We will hold the CDC accountable to providing complete transparency for the public. This situation is exactly why we have been asking for federal officials to accept the guidance of our medical community.”
The CDC told Newsweek the agency and several local health partners are seeking to locate other individuals who may have tested negative for the virus initially that could now have positive results and pose a potential risk to others.
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“It’s important to remember that this is a new virus and we are learning more about it every day,” the agency said. “The cycle of infection with COVID-19 is not yet well understood, but the amount of virus is typically highest when the person is sickest. As the illness resolves, the amount of virus falls.”
In Nirenberg’s address Sunday, he emphasized that the San Antonio Metro Health District was doing everything in its power to minimize risks and further exposure to residents.
“Our San Antonio Metro Health District and other local officials continue to address the situation with the utmost professionalism and care,” Nirenberg said. “The federal quarantine period for the Diamond Princess cruise ship evacuees ends (today). I have asked the CDC to do everything in their power to ensure that those who are released pose no risk to the community.”
Individuals quarantined at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, including passengers evacuated from the Diamond Princess, were told they cannot leave the base despite the two-week quarantine ending Monday, according to a reporter.
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