By Laurie Smith
lsmith@taosnews.com
...
Because they had been traveling, the Millers abided by the recommended 14-day quarantine and then got tested.
The first test was at a Department of Health "drive-through" on March 25 at Taos High School, conducted by the New Mexico Department of Health and Scientific Laboratory. "We were expecting we would be clear," Miller said.
They were taken by surprise when two days later, the test results came back positive for the coronavirus. For both of them. Since then, the Millers have been tested four additional times,
the latest on Friday, April 24-- all with the same positive results.
"We are going into a different area of testing beyond the nasal swab," Miller said. "Our doctor is going to order both antibodies testing and a more sophisticated test that counts the viral load."
David Morgan, media and social media manager at the New Mexico Department of Health, offered, "As testing capacity has increased, we've made it a priority to start testing asymptomatic New Mexicans." He added, "Anywhere in the world where testing has been done on asymptomatic people has found exactly what we have: people carrying the virus, and feeling fine, yet transmitting it unknowingly to others who aren't necessarily fine themselves."
The Millers remain quarantined as they enter day 50 with no symptoms. "We are hoping to get promoted to social distancing," Carol said. For now they rely on their garden full of home-grown vegetables and friends who drop off other groceries...
