To the Editor: Vt. needs to report all Covid positives

I am dismayed that the State of Vermont is not reporting the now 42 positive cases from Manchester on its website. All positive cases and their locations need to be reported so Vermonters can hunker down when necessary.

The explanation from the state: “We hope that those people will get PCR test from the State to confirm that they are positive.” That is just so foolish and reckless. Why in the world would someone who just tested positive go out in public to get another test? People who test positive need to quarantine.

Vermont apparently does not trust the accuracy of private testing sites that use antigen testing which is very accurate with regard to positives. Antigen tests do have a 12% false negative rate, but if they are positive, they are positive. Likewise, the State’s PCR tests have a 6% false negative rate, not so much better.

The bottom line: not reporting positive tests on the state website is spreading false information.

Mask up everyone – Covid-19 is all around us.

Doug Friant
South Londonderry, Vt.