UPDATE 11:24 p.m. 03/13/2020:
We have learned Grace Obradovic tested negative for COVID-19.
ORIGINAL STORY:
A woman in Cape Coral is afraid she might have caught Coronavirus.
She said she came down with an illness after an international cruise, but so far, no one she’s reached out to has been willing to test her for the virus. Grace Obradovic went to the Healthpark Medical Center weeks ago when her symptoms got bad, but she said, when she asked to be tested for Coronavirus, she was told to just go home and get some rest.
Now, she’s suffering from symptoms of a disease that she reported to doctors and the health department, but she still doesn’t know what it is.
“I had a chest X-ray done, which was negative for pneumonia. I had a nasal swab that was negative for both flu strains, and I was told the same exact thing,” said Obradovic.
What she wasn’t tested for was COVID-19, the disease brought on by Coronavirus. The Florida Department of Health has a notice on its website, saying anyone who has been on an international cruise in the last two weeks, and is showing symptoms, should be tested.
Obradovic got off her cruise to Central America just over two weeks ago on February 15th. Since then, she said others have reported getting sick too.
“There’s quite a few people that, in the thread, that say they got sick on the same cruise," said Obradovic.
That thread on Facebook shows people who traveled on the Norwegian Escape cruise saying they’ve come down with “some kind of virus”. On Norwegian’s website, it says the company is testing people’s temperatures before they get on, but Obradovic said that wasn’t her experience.
“As we’re standing in line with people coughing, they said they would be checking everybody. Nothing was done, there were no temperatures taken, like they said," said Obradovic.
With all of this information, I asked Lee Health why Obradovic wasn’t tested. It told me, deciding who gets the test is not its call. It only can test people approved by the Florida Department of Health. Obradovic reported her case there, but no one reached out.
“Why can’t you just get tested once you’ve been on a cruise? Why are they so selective?" said Obradovic.
According to Governor DeSantis in a press conference last Friday, it’s not because of a lack of tests.
“Right now, the testing capacity is being met in terms of what’s been requested," said DeSantis.
At this point, it’s been almost a month since her first symptoms. Obradovic even passed the virus to her husband, and now they’re both voluntarily quarantining themselves inside their house, but she said she’s worried about the people who aren’t.
“How many people are walking around our area right now that don’t know and aren’t taking it seriously," said Obradovic.
