A Seattle woman, Elizabeth Schneider, 37, said that she has the coronavirus and is recovering well. However, she has a message for the world: “Do Not Panic”.
Schneider believes that she got the virus at a house party since several friends who were at the party also fell ill at the same time she did. She said that she started feeling unwell three days after the February 22 party.
She told CNN’s Erin Burnett that she was:
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“Feeling tired, body aches, getting a headache, feeling a little bit feverish”
Everything appeared to be getting out of hand as the hours passed.
Symptoms
She got a 101-degree fever that soared to 103 degrees within hours. Schneider thought that she just had nasty flu but never suspected that it could be the coronavirus. She never suspected COVID-19 since she had no cough, shortness of breath, and no respiratory symptoms at all.
She did not suspect anything until she discovered that many of her friends who were at the party got sick on the same day with similar symptoms.
The Seattle region is marked as the epicenter of the Coronavirus outbreak in the United States. Since the first case appeared in January, 1,635 cases have been reported so far in the United States. Among them, 457 are in Washington, including 41 deaths.
For most global citizens, the pandemic means a normal life has been put on hold. Interestingly, Schneider and her friends were never tested for the coronavirus at first, with doctors suspecting flu. However, all flu tests came negative. She said:
“At this point, we were all getting a little frustrated that they weren’t allowed to be tested for coronavirus, or the doctor wasn’t even suggesting we be tested for it.”
One friend told them about a Seattle flu study that had started testing for coronavirus recently, and that is how they discovered that they have it. Schneider said that she stayed at home, rested, and took over-the-counter medicine that helped her recover.
Schneider’s thoughts
Apart from urging people to remain calm even when they are infected since there is the hope of recovery, she added:
“If you are healthy, if you are younger, if you take good care of yourself when you’re sick, you will recover, I believe. And I’m living proof of that.”
In this case, Schneider had age and good health on her side. But, for the elderly and people that have underlying medical conditions like diabetes or heart disease, Covid-19 can be deadly. Mark Parkinson, the American Health Care Association President, said:
“The grim reality is that, for the elderly, Covid-19 is almost a perfect killing machine.”
Multiple states are now restricting visits to assisted living facilities and nursing homes, trying to curb the spread of the disease to the vulnerable population. Washington State limited visitors as the virus spread across 11 facilities in the state.
