Naples family struggles to get tested as symptoms persist

A family of four in Naples said it has been tough to get tested for the coronavirus.

Traci Locke said it was her 8-year-old son Jackson who first started showing symptoms, then her husband Jon. Eventually, she started showing symptoms, and then her 3-year-old daughter Ava did, as well.

“I’ve had like small chest pains in my life but I’ve never had chest pains like this, where it kind of stops you in your tracks and freaks you out. My husband’s were even worse than mine. He described his as like a stabbing,” she said.

Traci and Jon received prescriptions for the test, but only Jon got tested. She said she tried making more appointments for days for herself at drive-thru testing, but she was kept on the phone for hours and told there were no appointments for about a week.

“You think you’re going to be able to go out there and get a test; you think it’s going to be that easy, and it just wasn’t that easy,” she said. “I thought, oh, I’ve got the prescription, I’m presenting all the symptoms, I should just be able to go out there and get a test, right? But it’s just not the case.”

Her husband is still waiting for his test results, and the children are starting to feel a little better.

NCH said Tuesday they suspended drive-thru testing because the supplies allocated for the free community testing have been used. They expect to resume mobile testing on Monday.