The Vermont Health Department said Friday it鈥檚 only confirmed two cases of COVID-19 among nearly 60 potential positive tests in the Manchester area.
A clinic in the town reported 59 positive antigen tests this week 鈥� a different test than the one the state uses to confirm cases of the new coronavirus.
The Food and Drug Administration the first antigen test for use in May. Results from antigen tests are available more quickly than from the PCR tests used by the state health department.
However, antigen tests have a higher chance of detecting false negatives than PCR tests, .
But in Manchester, the preliminary investigation by the health department seems to indicate the opposite problem: getting false positives, said Health Commissioner Mark Levine.
"We continue to investigate the situation and are treating all positive antigen tests as a positive case - reaching out to each person, giving them guidance to isolate, trace their contacts and above all, recommending they get a confirmatory PCR test." - Mark Levine, commissioner of the Department of Health
The health department has conducted PCR tests on 17 of the 59 individuals in Manchester who had positive antigen tests, but only two of those individuals came back positive for COVID-19.
鈥淲e continue to investigate the situation and are treating all positive antigen tests as a positive case 鈥� reaching out to each person, giving them guidance to isolate, trace their contacts and above all, recommending they get a confirmatory PCR test,鈥� Levine said during the governor鈥檚 Friday press conference.
Contact tracers have reached all but 11 of the 59 individuals who tested positive with the antigen test, Levine said. He said so far the health department has not 鈥渇ound connections to call this an outbreak鈥� but said the investigation was still ongoing.
The health department said 405 people in the region were tested at a pop-up site this week and all those tests were negative.
No mask mandate yet
Gov. Phil Scott said he still doesn鈥檛 think the state should mandate masks, but he said Friday that everyone should be wearing them.
Scott has said repeatedly he鈥檚 wary of putting in place a statewide mask mandate if there鈥檚 not a good way to enforce it.
He also said that given Vermont鈥檚 , he doesn鈥檛 think a mask mandate is needed at this time.
鈥淸With] what I鈥檓 seeing across the country and certainly what鈥檚 happening as it migrates across the northeast it's another measure that we could put in place if we have to and we might just have to,鈥� Scott said. 鈥淏ut again no disagreement on the use of masks, I think everyone should be wearing a mask.鈥�
, including Massachusetts, Kansas and North Carolina, require residents to wear masks in public spaces.
