This can mean, many people testing negative actually had/have the virus and the actual numbers are even more skewed.
Theoretically. Then again, it’s self understood that many people in Lakewood who have not tested positive have/had it, including asymptomatic. Certainly a large percentage of people showing symptoms have had it. You can never put too much faith in negatives, since they can miss the virus, although they’re definitely largely accurate unless someone’s doing something really wrong.
In summation: there can definitely have been many false negatives, but the large majority were accurate, so anecdotal evidence doesn’t hold up here. Also, your story doesn’t necessarily contradict the accuracy of either test, though it certainly raises the possibility.