CDC test finds Oregon’s youngest reported COVID-19 victim didn’t have the virus | News

PORTLAND, OR (KPTV) – State health leaders listed him as the youngest Oregonian to die from COVID-19, but it turns out 26-year-old Matthew Irvin of Yamhill County didn’t have the virus when he died in July.

Family members of Irvin told FOX 12 they’ve been fighting for answers since their son died in his home.

New testing conducted by the CDC confirmed Irvin did not have the coronavirus when he died, according to his parents.

The Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office said Irvin’s sample sent to the CDC tested negative for COVID-19.

The family said back in July, Irvin became very sick and went to the hospital, where he was told he might have COVID-19. A test was administered to find out and he was sent home.

Irvin’s step-father told FOX 12 that a couple days later, Irvin’s condition became a lot worse, so the family called the hospital to alert them that they were bringing Irvin back — that’s when the family says they were told by the hospital not to come back unless Irvin was having trouble breathing.

Irvin ended up dying at home shortly after.

A few days after his death, the family said it received word that Irvin’s COVID test came back negative.

The family ended up having a private autopsy performed on Irvin’s body and a sample was sent to the CDC for further testing.

The family says they are now trying to get other reports back from the state that may shed more light into how Irvin died.

Meanwhile, FOX 12 reached out to the Oregon Health Authority, asking if the authority corrected the COVID-19 death toll and removed Irvin’s name from the list.

Irvin’s death also begs the question – how reliable is the information that OHA uses to tally the deadly coronavirus cases?

FOX 12 never heard back directly from OHA Wednesday, but the agency did put out a note in its daily release Wednesday saying, “Updated information is available for Oregon’s 295th COVID-19 death, a 26-year-old man in Yamhill County. The updated death certificate does not list COVID-19 disease or SARS-CoV-2 as a cause of death or as a significant condition that contributed to his death, and he is no longer considered a COVID-19 related death or case.”

Copyright 2020 KPTV-KPDX Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved.