VTDigger

By Katie Jickling

The fever hit 57-year-old Kathy Warren on Monday at 5 p.m. It came suddenly, accompanied by head-to-toe body aches and a rasping bronchitis.

When her husband, David Warren, fell sick with similar symptoms the next day, she called a doctor. Nurses at the Plainfield Health Center ruled out the flu and pneumonia for the Montpelier couple, but not COVID-19, Warren said.

Neither qualified for a coronavirus test — even though Kathy has allergy-induced asthma and David is 70. Nor could they get a test on Thursday, after Kathy returned to the doctor wheezing and short of breath. By that point, doctors considered them “‘suspected cases” for the coronavirus, Kathy Warren said.

Still, neither has been tested. “We are slowly but progressively getting worse,” she said.

The Vermont Department of Health has issued guidance to providers on how to prioritize people for testing: the immunocompromised, health care workers, incarcerated individuals, and other vulnerable people.

At a press conference Thursday, Levine broadened the scope. The state is testing people “if they’re symptomatic,” he told reporters. “Those priorities are quite standardized and they’ve been disseminated to all clinicians around the state.” continue to site