With Seattleites panic buying and taking advanced measures to keep themselves COVID-19-free, you’d hope that the government and healthcare workers would take the threat of pandemic as seriously.
With a total of 21 coronavirus cases in King County, we’ve learned that Public Health Officials are planning to create an isolation community for those infected, as well as modular housing to help get homeless persons off the streets.
We’ve learned of what is being done to those already infected, but we have missing information on what to do if we believe that we are one of the undetected COVID-19 cases.
Twitter user @into_the_brush dealt with this problem firsthand this week when trying to get tested for the virus.
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In a Twitter thread on March 2, @into_the_brush shared that she’s a healthcare worker at a Seattle physical therapy clinic with many patients who are 65 and older.
With a history of chronic bronchitis and all symptoms of COVID-19 including fever, cough, and shortness of breath, she acted responsibly and tried to get tested.
She first called the coronavirus hotline and gave up after being on hold for 40 minutes. She then tried using the CDC and Washington’s public health websites, which, according to @into_the_brush, had no information regarding testing and told her to seek a primary care doctor.
I called 2 primary care doctors. One told me they don’t know where to get testing, and that I should not to seek out testing. The other one told me to go to an urgent care or ER.
I called the Urgent Care, they also had no idea where tests are, but told me to call the hospital.
— sketchy lady (@into_the_brush) March 3, 2020
From there, she’d apparently called a hospital, which transferred her once again to a COVID-19 hotline to answer her questions.
The lady with the hotline was very kind and professional and understood my concern about my own health and those at my clinic. (Which is currently being sanitized). However, I was told I do not qualify for testing. And I was not given a timeline or info on current resources.
— sketchy lady (@into_the_brush) March 3, 2020
@into_the_brush was then told that she’d only be treated if she develops pneumonia or bronchitis, which she deems “very likely” due to her history of chronic bronchitis.
This is all incredibly frustrating because I am trying to do everything right in a system that punishes moments of “weakness” like taking days off.
It’s also scary to know that I won’t be able to get help until I need life support.
— sketchy lady (@into_the_brush) March 3, 2020
Other Twitter users have been leaving their comments on her original post, sharing their experiences.
As a nurse in primary care in MA, I can attest that what you experienced is the same process here. Nobody is getting tested because it’s unavailable. This is how the number of cases is so small and why it will keep spreading. #Coronavirustruth
— Michele (@michelefromMA) March 3, 2020
I am in a similar situation to you in Kirkland, went to my dr today for fever/URI symptoms and was told they don’t have tests. Long and short of it I got tested for flu but not covid19 even tho I’m a healthcare worker and immunosuppressed and no one knows what’s going on 🤦♀️
— Luaa (@Luaalei) March 3, 2020
Can’t get an alarming number of confirmed cases if you don’t test pic.twitter.com/aculS3mQ3Q
— Hothtourism (@hothtourism) March 3, 2020
Daily Hive has reached out to both @into_the_brush and King County Health for further comment.