First came the fever of 38.5 degrees celsius. Then Tim Miranda started experiencing shortness of breath. Finally, the coughing fits.

The 38-year-old Massachusetts-based software engineer had previously had both pneumonia and the flu. He was convinced this was something different.

He told his doctor he feared he may have contracted the deadly new Covid-19 virus after returning from one of the identified epicentres in the US. The physician was worried enough to refer him for testing to the Department of Public Health, but they said he did not qualify.

“The reasoning my doctor received was I hadn’t been to a ‘Level 3’ country, my fever wasn't high enough, my shortness of breath not acute enough, and my possible exposure not direct enough to people that were documented as positive,” he told The Telegraph.

“My suspicion is they just didn't have enough testing kits, though no one would admit it.”