Daniel Goldman, a lawyer who worked for Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and became a fixture during the House impeachment process and Senate trial, recalled the “very difficult” and “very frustrating” process involved in getting tested for coronavirus during an interview on MSNBC Monday.
On Sunday, Schiff announced that he is taking “additional distancing precautions” in light of a former staffer testing positive for COVID-19. Shortly after Schiff’s announcement, Goldman tweeted that he tested positive for the virus and is recovering.
FINAL UPDATE (thread): My #COVID19 test came back positive.
I want to thank everyone for the outpouring of support. It means a lot to my family and me.
I am almost back to 100%. I’m lucky enough not to fall in the vulnerable category and, for me, it was just like the flu. 1/
— Daniel Goldman (@danielsgoldman) March 15, 2020
During an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” Monday morning, Goldman discussed the “misperceptions out there” regarding the testing process, saying that tests aren’t just “readily available to anyone who wants them.”
“That was simply not the case,” Goldman said. “I had symptoms. I had not been in contact with anyone that I knew to be positive for coronavirus. Basically, that meant I could not get tested.”
Goldman said that after testing negative for both the flu and a full viral panel “to see if it was anything else,” the New York Presbyterian Hospital sent him home and advised him to self-quarantine because his symptoms “were not bad enough” to be admitted into the hospital.
After adding that you can’t get tested unless you’re admitted, Goldman recalled the confusion that ensued upon being sent home by the hospital.
After telling the hospital that he had “no known contact with anyone with coronavirus,” Goldman said he was advised to self-quarantine, but that the rest of his family “should go on acting as if they are normal.”
“And that anyone I had come into contact with could continue to go around and live their lives normally,” Goldman said.
Goldman said that eventually drove to Connecticut to get a test because he “wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
Watch Goldman’s remarks below:
Daniel Goldman: Getting a coronavirus test was "very difficult" and "very frustrating" pic.twitter.com/uUXTPPyPOD
— Talking Points Memo (@TPM) March 16, 2020
