A 69-year-old Bayonne man hospitalized since early Sunday said he’s frustrated he is still waiting on test results that will confirm a suspected case of coronavirus.

But Albert “Al” Ammarito said he believes the anti-malaria drug he has been taking since Tuesday appears to have eliminated his fever and relentless, dry cough.

“If you were to look at me today, I am 100 times better than I was yesterday,” Ammararito said in a telephone interview Friday evening from his bed in an isolated room at Jersey City Medical Center. “I am feeling fine.”

Hydroxychloroquine, the decades-old medication used to treat malaria, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, was the focus of President Trump’s remarks at the daily press briefing Thursday and Friday. Trump called the drug a “game-changer” in the fight against the pandemic. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, clarified that the drug would need to go through clinical trials before the federal government could determine whether it was a safe and effective treatment for COVID-19.

There are six clinical trials in progress to study the drug’s efficacy.

However, hospitals and physicians have been administering the drugs hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine as permitted for off-label use since the fast-spreading virus is expected to soon overwhelm the nation’s healthcare system.

Ammarito said although he doesn’t have a medical background, he believes the medication is what made the difference in reducing his 103 degree-fever and his loss of appetite.

The cough emerged March 13, Ammarito said, but he went to work at his new job at the American Dream mall in East Rutherford, along with about 50 people. He says he visited Robert’s Cafe, a local coffee shop in Bayonne and had dinner with about four friends Saturday at Piccolino’s Restaurant, also in Bayonne.

By Sunday morning, he said he was suffering from the sweats and the chills. “I could barely move," he said. He called 911 and the ambulance took him to RWJBarnabas at Bayonne. He said he was transported to Jersey City Medical Center late that night and placed into isolation.

“They are taking good care of me,” Ammarito said. "They are giving me a lot of attention. Every time a nurse walks in, they say ‘you look so much better than yesterday.’ Whether they are bull-----ing or not, it makes you feel good.”

Ammarito said he was swabbed for the COVID-19 test on Sunday and was told the results would go to the state Department of Health laboratory and would be ready in “three to five days.” But the next day, however, he learned his specimen “was never picked up” and was sent to Quest Diagnostics in California. He still doesn’t understand why because Quest has so many branches locally.

A heart attack survivor who went through triple bypass surgery last year, Ammarito said the uncertainty is stressful, he said. “It’s not easy. I sit here and look at hallway window and watch the news.”

Although his fever is down and his coughing fits have ceased, Ammarito said he was told he won’t be going home until his test results come back. On Saturday morning, he was told the same thing he’s heard all week.

“Maybe tomorrow,” he said.

Officials from Jersey City Medical Center did not respond to requests for comment.

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Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @SusanKLivio.