Despite having coronavirus symptoms, Walking Dead star Daniel Newman couldn’t get tested in ER
Walking Dead actor Daniel Newman leapfrogged around emergency rooms attempting to acquire a coronavirus testing kit despite showing symptoms. (Instagram)
As countless Americans report being unable to access crucial coronavirus tests, the latest impacted by tight restrictions was bisexual Walking Dead star, Daniel Newman.
The 38-year-old said Friday on Instagram he is self-quarantining with suspected COVID-19 symptoms.
Newman explained that a trip to the emergency room – in which clinicians denied him a test under current health department rules – has opened his eyes to how the US is “not prepared” for the pandemic.
Daniel Newman: Someone in my Mardi Gras group tested positive for coronavirus.
In the post, Newman said that several Walking Dead fans spotted him in emergency rooms following his recent trip to Australia.
The actor was there alongside non-binary singer Sam Smith and musician Dua Lipa for Mardi Gras.
“I was exposed to some sick people and I started developing symptoms and then back in the [S]tates I was notified someone in our group tested positive for Covid19,” Newman wrote.
“I spent all day calling every urgent care and hospital,” he wrote, adding that none of them had tests.
Daniel Newman. (Tibrina Hobson/Getty Images)
“Finally I found one emergency room that told me my symptoms match and to come in immediately.
I did all the tests and they told me because I have ‘mild symptoms’ the government won’t allow them to process my tests!
Many in the States have detailed the near Kafka-esque experiences of trying to get COVID-19 testing kits in a health care system that experts say is unprepared for the incoming wave of patients that will pelt it.
The lack of accessible testing kits has hampered efforts of health authorities and the Trump administration to contain the virus.
As Newman described: “They’re only allowed to process ‘severe symptoms, elderly, or people recently in Italy and China’.
“It cost me $9,116! And they didn’t even give me results.”
He was eventually released from the hospitalized and sent home to self-quarantine in case he had acquired the virus.
Newsman urged fans and followers to, “be safe, wash your hands, stay 6 feet or more away from people and stay home.”
