Collection of lower respiratory specimen by bronchoscopy for the diagnosis of COVID-19

•A case of 5 negative SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR tests in 4 upper respiratory tract and 1 stool samples who finally tested positive in bronchoalveolar lavage.•Maintaining a high level of clinical suspicion in any patient with a strong epidemiological linkage of COVID-19 is vital.•Performing bronchoscopy in high-risk cases requires special infection control strategies.