July 20, 2020 | 5:53pm
A 13-year-old California boy died after experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, despite testing negative for the disease about a week earlier, according to reports.
Maxx Cheng — a swimmer with big dreams of going to the Olympics — began to feel sick on the Fourth of July with symptoms including nausea, vomiting and chest pains, his family told Los Angeles outlet KCBS-TV.
The teen’s mom took him to get tested for the coronavirus on July 9, and the results were puzzling.
“His symptoms matched, but then the test came out negative. So we were a little bit confused,” said Charlotte Cheng, Maxx’s 21-year-old sister.
Despite the negative results, the seventh grader continued to isolate inside his room due to his ongoing symptoms.
The symptoms, which also included a fever and cough, began to slow last week. But on Thursday night, “We went to go check up on him, like we normally do [and] he wasn’t answering,” his sister said.
“We found him passed out in the room.”
An autopsy is being conducted to determine the boy’s cause of death, and whether he actually did have COVID-19. The results are expected in the coming days, according to the outlet.
The Cheng family said they had been very careful, even prior to Maxx getting sick, so they didn’t know where he could have contracted the illness.
His death sent shockwaves through the community, with a group of local moms setting up a GoFundMe to help the family with funeral arrangements.
In Los Angeles County, about seven percent of confirmed coronavirus cases involve children, according to health officials.
