California Cop Dies Of COVID-19 Complications; Reportedly Denied Twice For Coronavirus Testing

Santa Rosa Police Detective Marylou Armer has been fighting off a fever, shortness of breath, and body aches since the middle of March, her sister in an interview said. According to reports, the police detective, on two separate occasions, went to Kaiser Permanente’s Vallejo Medical Center and requested doctors to test her for COVID-19. On both occasions, her sister said that the police detective’s request was denied.

No Underlying Conditions

The older sister of Police Detective Armer, Mari Lau, told reporters that her sister had confided to her about her situation. Lau said that her sister told her that the reason why doctors refused to test the 43-year-old Armer is she did not have any underlying medical conditions. She took this to mean that the police detective is not viewed as vulnerable to the deadly illness which has already killed thousands in America.

According to an advisory from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), persons considered to be most at risk are the elderly and those with underlying conditions. This does not mean though that if you do not belong to either of the categories, you cannot get infected. Health experts say that the advisory was meant to warn the elderly and persons with medical conditions to be extra careful.

Finally Tested

Lau said that the police detective finally got the green light for a COVID-19 test on March 23 after being initially turned down for the third time. By that time, however, “it was too late already,” Lau said. When the husband of Armer brought her to the hospital’s emergency room that day, the police detective was immediately sedated and intubated, Lau told news outfits. Her sister said that this was being done in an attempt to improve the oxygen levels in her bloodstream.

Lau said that her sister’s COVID-19 was released a little while later, and it showed that the police detective was positive. Armer was placed in a medically-induced coma as a last-ditch attempt to improve her condition. The police detective never woke up from that coma, and she passed away on March 31, according to Lau.

Lack Of Testing Kits

News outlets tried to interview the husband of the late police detective, but they begged off and asked for privacy. They, however, agreed to let the older sister of the detective share details about the life of Armer and her illness.

Lau said that she is very frustrated at the inability of her sister to get herself tested for COVID-19. She said that while she is not a doctor, “a person knows their body and knows when something is wrong.” Kaiser, in a statement on Saturday, confirmed that the police detective was not immediately tested.