A young patient at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles who was initially presumed to have COVID-19 has been reassessed and tested negative for the coronavirus, Ventura County officials announced Sunday.
“The presumptive positive case for an 8-year-old being treated at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles was retested by Los Angeles Children’s Hospital with a new sample from the child,” a statement from Ventura County said. “The results were negative. Ventura County Public Health retested the original specimen and also had a negative result.”
County officials said they’re waiting for official results from testing by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Ventura County Public Health can no longer confirm a case of community transmission at this time,” said a statement from Ventura County’s public health officer, Dr. Robert Levin. “This is good news, it may put us further ahead on the curve of preventing the widespread outbreak of COVID-19 in Ventura County.”
On Friday, the Ventura County Public Health said the child had an underlying condition and received treatment multiple times over the past month. That patient had not gone to school for more than two weeks, the agency said.
Children’s Hospital previously confirmed that it was treating a COVID-19 patient between 6 and 9 years old who did not travel.
Ventura County health officials underscored that children did not appear to have a higher risk for COVID-19 compared to adults, and that minors generally display mild symptoms. However, children with underlying health conditions are more vulnerable to severe illness, officials said.
Ventura County officials have not released an update on another presumptive case announced last week, one involving a a person who traveled to Egypt. That individual was quarantined at home and had limited contact with the public, authorities said.
As of Friday, Ventura County had reported one positive case and four presumptive cases of the coronavirus.