Kathy Griffin Out of Hospital, Still Not Tested for Coronavirus

Kathy Griffin has been released from the hospital after tweeting that she was admitted for coronavirus-like symptoms, lashing out against President Donald Trump and writing that she was not tested for COVID-19.

Griffin, who is now recovering at home, spoke with The Los Angeles Times about her stint in the hospital, saying she experienced severe vomiting and diarrhea early in the week. After speaking with a doctor over the phone, they advised the comedian to go to an urgent-care clinic, according to The L.A. Times. From there, Griffin says she was sent to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, where she was placed in a COVID-19 isolation unit.

"I remember vividly the doctor telling me ... 'I'm going to send you to Cedars ER today because I don't think I could get you in 13 days from now,'" she told the newspaper

The "My Life on the D-List" star went on to recount the hospital's COVID-19 unit, noting the lack of health professionals wearing masks.

"Frankly, when they said the corona ward, I thought I would be walking into the white suits with blue-taped ceilings, everything," she said. "I kind of expected them to put me in a shower room and all that – but as recently as [Tuesday], there's no cavalry that's coming in handing out millions of [test] swabs."

After some testing, Griffin was diagnosed with an infection in her abdomen. Though she was given the option to stay at the hospital, she decided to go home and self-isolate. She added that doctors wanted to test her for the new coronavirus but weren't able to.

"The doctor was going through the boxes and going through the boxes [on a form] and she kept saying, like, 'Ugh, because of the lungs, the fever and the kind of cough ... you don't meet the CDC requirements,'" Griffin told The L.A. Times. "The realization when they told me the guidelines was, 'Wow ... I now know not to come back unless my lungs are full of what feels like pieces of a shattered mirror, unless I can't breathe and unless my fever is 103 ... They're not making the rules at all. That's a frightening feeling."

She added: "I just think it's so obvious that those tests have to be accessible to everybody," Griffin said. "A lot of people, when they hear the president saying everyone who needs a test should get one, then shouldn't have to then go to a hospital where, frankly, they may be exposing themselves or exposing others. Hopefully, sooner than later you can either go to a pharmacy and get one or they could deliver one at home, something like that."

Click here to read the full story from the L.A. Times.

This story is part of our special report: "COVID-19 And You". Want to read more? Here's the full list.