In a YouTube video about their pregnancy the couple posed with a sign which repeated the "tested positive" joke.
Comments on Duggar's Instagram post for the pregnancy announcement have been limited but @withoutacrystalball blogger Katie Joy shared a post on Instagram criticising the joke.
"Even though a lot of people have made similar announcements like this – I find it so insensitive," she wrote.
Others agreed, labelling it "tacky" and "cringy" given the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic.
"Having 2 family members pass from COVID, I find this very tasteless and insensitive," one person wrote.
But others said the criticism went too far as they couple had only meant the pregnancy announcement to be a joke.
"I find humour in their sign. I like it. Congrats to both of them," one person wrote.
"A lot of people are using this phrase as ways of announcing," another argued. "Yes people have died and that's not a joking matter but dang, it's a pregnancy announcement … lighten up."
