A 39-year-old woman in the US died suddenly with coronavirus symptoms before her COVID-19 test results were released.
Natasha Ott, from New Orleans, was found dead in her kitchen by her partner on Friday (local time) after she began feeling sick on March 10. She had been in "good health" up until her illness.
She was sent home from work when she first felt ill, but she was deemed "low-risk" and wasn't initially tested for the disease, her partner Josh Anderson wrote in a Facebook post.
Anderson says Ott worked as a social worker at Crescent Care, a local medical clinic, and was only tested for the deadly virus on March 16 - nearly one week after she started feeling sick.
Her delayed test results are due back on Monday.
Anderson wrote in a lengthy Facebook post that Ott was feeling better the day she died, saying in a message to him that morning: "A little better and hopeful. The herbs seem to be helping."
He texted and called her later that day but didn't receive a reply, so he went to check on her around 8pm.
"No one answered the door. I walked to the back of the house and noticed the rear door that opened into her fenced yard was open (she left it open sometimes so Zola [her dog] could go in and out)," Anderson wrote.
"I went in the back, and found her dead in her kitchen."
He says Ott's death is an "immeasurable loss" to those who knew her.
"Seeing a woman I knew to be so full of life lying on the floor lifeless was devastating. I was afraid to touch her. I held her anyway."
Ott had texted Anderson regularly in the days leading up to her death saying she felt unwell, feverish and had lost her appetite.
On Thursday, the day before her death, the pair walked her dog together and Ott had "more energy than she'd had in days". But she complained about feeling like there was "something" in her lungs.
Anderson told the New Orleans Advocate that if someone is showing symptoms you should check in with them every hour.
"And at any point, if they say anything about their lungs, you need to get them to the hospital."
There are over 25,000 cases in the US and 323 people have died. Over 300,000 people globally have contracted the virus and nearly 13,000 people have died, according to CNN.
