Lazaro Aleman
ECB Publishing, Inc.
It turns out that County Coordinator Parrish Barwick does not have COVID-19 after all.
After testing positive last week for the disease caused by the novel coronavirus and checking into Tallahassee Memorial Hospital (TMH) for treatment, subsequent testing revealed that the initial positive result had been wrong.
The Jefferson County Health Department tested Barwick on Saturday, July 11, the result of which came back positive on Monday, July 13. Barwick then entered TMH and began receiving treatment for the disease, as well as for two unrelated health issues that surfaced as a result of the medical examination.
One of the unrelated health issues was a lower leg infection. The other was an atrial fibrillation, also called Afib – described as an irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia) that can lead to blood clots, stroke, heart failure and other heart-related complications.
As for the COVID-19 diagnosis, however, when TMH personnel twice tested Barwick later last week, the results came back negative.
Barwick could not be reached on Monday, July 20, as he was resting and his phone was muted. But according to his wife, Suzanne, who emailed the Monticello News on Sunday evening, July 19, Barwick was COVID-19 free.
“He does not have COVID,” Suzanne Barwick emailed. “His COVID test, which was administered at the Jefferson County Health Department, was a false positive. He has been tested twice by Tallahassee Memorial Hospital since his arrival and he does not have COVID. He has been moved off the COVID floor and onto a regular nonCOVID floor.”
Barwick himself, when he called the Monticello News early last week to report his condition, couldn’t imagine how he might have contracted the disease, as he had been generally careful to abide by the social distancing guidelines to the best of his ability, he said. He had gone and gotten himself tested at the health department after experiencing symptoms that he described as consisting of headaches, fever and mental confusion, he said.
At the time of his hospitalization, Barwick characterized his COVID-19 diagnosis as a blessing in disguise, as it had brought to light the two other unrelated medical issues that he had been unaware existed, he said.
As for the first false positive test result, the CDC advises in its fact sheet to patient that a small chance exists that a coronavirus test will result in a positive that is wrong, called a false positive. But it can and does happen, the CDC fact sheet states.
Jefferson County, meanwhile, recorded a fifth COVID-19 death on Wednesday, July 20. The health department identified the deceased as an 87-year old woman who had previously been diagnosed with the disease.
As of Wednesday, the county had 113 COVID-19 cases and 17 related hospitalizations. The county’s positivity rate was 6.4 percent.
The positivity rate indicates the percentage of total coronavirus tests conducted that come back positive. Any percentage higher than 10 percent is considered above the target range.
Statewide, according to the Florida Department of Health, Florida had 360,394 cases, 21,263 hospitalizations and 5,183 deaths as of Wednesday. And the state's positivity rate was 11.79 percent.
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