Framingham Student Exposed To Coronavirus Not Tested

FRAMINGHAM, MA — A Potter Park Elementary student who lives with two people who tested presumptive positive for the new coronavirus was never tested for the disease. The child was taken to Framingham Union Hospital for a test on March 11 — but the hospital didn't complete a test because the child was not exhibiting symptoms, health officials said.

COVID-19 may still be spread by people who don't show symptoms. Three people who attended the Biogen conference in Boston last month were asymptomatic, but ended up testing presumptive positive. That conference is where the virus got a foothold in Massachusetts with more than 80 people infected.

A Columbia University study released on Tuesday said that COVID-19 spread rapidly in China through people who showed mild or no symptoms.

"The explosion of COVID-19 cases in China was largely driven by individuals with mild, limited, or no symptoms who went undetected," co-author Dr. Jeffrey Shaman said in a news release about the "stealth transmission" study.

The Framingham student has been in quarantine since March 11 and is still not showing symptoms. But, the student had contact with about 95 other students and staff in the Potter Park community, officials have said. Those people are being asked to remain quarantined.

Framingham has now had four people test presumptive positive for COVID-19, including two people who live with the Potter Park student. The other two people have no connection to the student or their family.

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