To the Editor:

Of course Covid-19 is underreported. On Friday night I showed symptoms of flu — cough, aches, fever, chills — the worst I’ve ever felt. Because I had a flu shot this winter, I emailed my doctor to see if I should be tested for the coronavirus.

Since test kits were not widely available, he encouraged me to get an oximeter (measures the estimated oxygen saturation of red blood cells). I am to monitor at home, and if my oxygen saturation drops beneath 92, consider proceeding to the emergency room.

So far, I have stayed in home isolation and have been hovering around 93. So, here is the problem with reporting. If I am lucky enough to stay above 92 and heal on my own, I will never know if I had the coronavirus and spread it to others while asymptomatic. Nor will others know.

I have elected to stay in isolation for two weeks for the greater good, and I am sure I’m not alone. We are not prepared.

Cindy Mangiola

Monterey, Calif.

To the Editor:

I am a doctor on the front lines seeing cough and fever all day long. On Saturday I saw approximately 40 pediatric patients in 12 hours. We had a very limited supply of personal protective equipment for our entire urgent care. We also had to go to YouTube to remind ourselves how to don the gear. Where is the C.D.C. leadership? Meanwhile, patients with fever and cough keep coming in without wearing masks and sitting next to 6-week-olds.

I worry that I am sending children with high fever and cough home, children who are negative for the flu, knowing full well that this could be the coronavirus. I am glad to hear that more test kits are being made available nationwide and that some relaxing of the criteria to test a patient has happened.

This is still not enough, though, since most coronavirus patients will not meet even the new guidelines for testing. Doing some random testing would be helpful to at least learn about how many in the community are already positive.