RICHMOND, Texas – A Richmond mother, who has been in a 14-day quarantine with her 22-year-old son says she is adamant that all essential workers should be tested for COVID-19.
“They should have the capacity to do that though, this is the United States of America and we’re behind in this thing," said Sonya Cotton, a nurse practitioner by trade.
Cotton said without universal testing of workers who still have contact with the public, hundreds of thousands of people in the Houston Metro area could infect others and she uses her son as an example.
“Was very concerned about that and I said let’s get you tested before go you back to work,” Cotton said.
Cotton’s son worked at a fast food drive-thru window just four days before his COVID-19 test came back positive.
As a nurse practitioner, Cotton knew that as soon as he showed symptoms, he should not be at work and she took action. But she knows that others may have been exposed in the days before he had a fever.
Cotton said that she went to three different healthcare providers attempting to get her son tested. One said he looked too healthy, and his x-ray showed he did not have a lung problem.
Two days later, he tested positive. He is recovering at home, feeling much better, and at the end of his 14-day quarantine.
“Now we have to go through this again to have him tested because his quarantine is over,” Cotton said.
