SALADO, Texas — Happy Pizza Company sits in the heart of the Salado community. On July 7th, the shop posted on Facebook, letting people know-that an employee tested positive.
It said they will close, employees will self quarantine and get tested. However, the owner and employee said the test appeared to be a false positive.
"It was something I'd never heard of, we had heard of false negatives, but never a false positive," Happy Pizza Company Owner KD Hill said.
The employee said they were admitted to Baylor Scott and White for other medical issues. They got a nasal swab test and it was positive. They said they were put on the COVID floor.
The employee said the doctor told them, they did not need to stay at the hospital because they did not have symptoms. They just needed to isolate.
They got another nasal swab test, the day they were being discharged on July 9th, and it was negative. The employee claimed they were incapable of conducting further tests for the other medical issues because of the positive test.
The employee said they were told by doctors they needed another negative result to be able to return to work. They were going to get their next test from the clinic, but got a blood test instead checking for antibodies. According to a note sent by that doctor, that the employee shared with 6 News, it appeared to be a false positive.
"Lab report shows that you have not had COVID and you do not have a current infection. It appears your first nasal swab was a false positive," the note said.
Hill said when they opened back up business was terrible.
"Nobody wants to be somewhere they think COVID has been. We felt like we had a scarlet letter on us," Hill said.
Hill mentioned it was all for nothing.
"We lost, you know, two weeks of business. We had to lay off our employees temporarily and stress out an entire community of employees and families and customers who had possibly come in contact with that person and it was all for nothing," Hill said.
A quick google search shows false positives do happen. Monday, NBC Connecticut reported a Connecticut state lab found 90 positive COVID-19 test results were false.
A CDC fact sheet for patients from June also mentioned there is a very small chance that a test can give a positive result that is wrong.
MIT Medical addressed false positives under their COVID-19 frequently asked questions, specifically on how accurate diagnostic tests are for COVID-19.
They said the test is highly specific and it almost never gives a false positive.
The new antigen test for COVID-19 is also very specific and rarely gives a false positive.
We reached out to Baylor Scott and White's media team for an interview about testing, false positives, accuracy and numbers; but due to the time of our request they were unable to pin someone down. They provided 6 News with a statement.
As the largest not-for-profit health system in Texas, we are continuously evaluating the best way to serve our communities. We are committed to helping our communities navigate the uncertainty of this virus, making screening available to all and making testing more efficient and accessible to those who meet criteria.
Baylor Scott & White has had testing available for patients since early March, and we continue to test today. Throughout our service area, we use real-time PCR-based in vitro diagnostic tests for the identification of SARS-CoV-2 virus — the virus that causes COVID-19. Specimen collection includes the use of nasalpharyngeal swabs.
As has been published in medical literature, it is important to consider test results along with clinical and epidemiological factors when diagnosing a patient – particularly in the early days of infection.
As new testing options become available, we are watching with great interest as these go through validation and FDA review. We are continuously evaluating which FDA-approved options to make available for our patients and caregivers.
They also attached articles below the statement from the FDA and ACP Journals that may be helpful.
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