A Prince George's County man feared the worst when his young son came down with a 103-degree fever, but he said it took weeks to get the COVID-19 test results.
Walter Bowman of Fort Washington, Maryland, says overall, COVID-19 testing in the United States is disgraceful.
“It’s abhorrent,” he said. “I must admit because my family and I are experiencing this on a real level. It really hits close to home.”
He wanted his son Colin to get a COVID-19 test because he had a fever for three days three weeks ago.
He said Colin’s pediatrician did a virtual exam and decided he should be tested for the coronavirus as a precaution.
“You’re nervous, you’re a bit confused, in terms is it just a common cold or could it be the COVID-19 virus?” Bowman said.
Thankfully, the tests came back negative, but it took two weeks.
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“That took way too long,” Bowman said. “There are cases every day that we hear of that people are tested, and two, three days later they’re dead.”
Bowman also owns real estate that employees almost 30 people.
He was concerned he could have possibly been exposed to COVID-19 and he wanted a test, but he couldn’t get one because he didn’t have symptoms.
“Which to me was crazy, so therefore I was not able to get the forms to get a test,” he said.
So he drove to a private facility in Haymarket, Virginia, and paid $300.
He is now waiting for the results.
Bowman says something is wrong, and it’s up to the federal government to fix it sooner rather than later.
“It only makes practical sense,” he said.
