Health Commissioner Mark Levine talks about the state's Covid-19 response at a press conference on July 1. Photo by Mike Dougherty / VTDigger Health Commissioner Mark Levine questioned the 59 reported cases of Covid in Manchester on Friday, saying the test results may have been false positives. The Health Department has confirmed only two of the cases in follow-up tests. Fifteen of the 59 have tested negative afterward, Levine said. Levine reported that 405 additional tests conducted by local hospitals and the health department were negative. "This is a good indication that these cases are not spreading within the community," Levine said at the governor's press conference. The state does not yet have a complete picture of the virus's spread, he said, but "clearly the data is trending in the direction" of less positive evidence. The announcement comes as health officials and doctors in Manchester continue to publicly discuss the value of different Covid-19 tests and how the results are reported. A local doctor's office, Manchester Medical Center, had 59 positive results with the antigen tests, which provide rapid results that are less accurate than the preferred diagnostic PCR tests by the health department. Antigen tests are intended for people who have symptoms of Covid-19, Levine said; They have not been studied in healthy individuals. The Health Department only publishes the results of the PCR tests, which can take days to obtain results. Doctors at Manchester Medical Center have been using antigen tests since late May, about two weeks after they were approved by the Federal Food and Drug Administration, said Dr. Janel Kittredge, emergency physician and medical director of the facility. . The first positive test of the facility came just after the weekend of July 4, when second owners and visitors crowded into Manchester. "The swimming wells are full, the ponds are full, people are playing baseball, there is lacrosse," he said. "I thought to myself, 'This is going to be an interesting time.'" VTDigger is subscribed by:On July 10, a 12-year-old boy with a fever, abdominal cramps, and diarrhea tested positive for Covid. Some of the boy's family members also tested positive for antigen, as did others with Covid-like symptoms who had traveled out of state. He posted to Facebook on Sunday about the results, a channel he would not normally use to disperse information. "This is not like I could sit on this information that I have for a week and wait for it to go through [proper] channels, because in that time period of the week, those infected people will transmit it to 100 people and then spread to another 100 people who will then fly back to Florida or Chicago, "he said." We don't have that kind of time. " In the following days, the contacts of these people came in and tested positive. That anecdotal evidence suggests that those people did have Covid, Kittredge said. She said the clinic had conducted at least seven follow-up PCR tests, some of them at the same time as the antigen tests. Five of that total tested positive. There are many reasons why someone could have tested negative for follow-up PCR, including the person's symptoms, when the test was done, and how the test was performed, he said. Dr. Janel Kittredge, physician at Manchester Medical Center. MMC Photo Kittredge criticized Levine for creating a false sense of security that can ultimately lead to further spread of the virus. "Please do not make general statements that these are false positives and that people can go about their business, because that is dangerous," he said in an interview on Friday. "I am concerned that those people are not going out and with this false sense of 'OK, my second test was negative, I can go out.'" Levine said he is not downplaying the information. They will continue to run more PCR tests in the coming days, he said. The department is also treating positive antigen tests as confirmed positive, monitoring the contract and urging those affected to stay home. So far, residents are doing their part to continue social distancing and prevent the spread of the virus, Manchester Town manager John O'Keefe said. The city has imposed a mask mandate, and this week O'Keefe put up eight signs around the city encouraging people to wear their masks. He received overwhelming support from residents and on social media. "A true telltale sign of what's going on around here," he said of the positive comments. Despite the latest state data, O'Keefe urged the public not to stop taking precautions. "It still wouldn't turn off the siren," he said. "I don't think this is the time to let down my guard." Don't miss a thing. Sign up here to receive the weekly email from VTDigger about Vermont hospitals, healthcare trends, insurance, and state healthcare policy. VTDigger.org is now Vermonters' "go to" information center. The reading has quadrupled. Fake news travels fast like a virus. Become a member of Digger. Keep Digger vibrant, vigilant, trustworthy, scrupulously factual, investigative. Don Hooper, VJT Board Member
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