COVID-19: My family ’s experience

On Sunday March 15, my younger sister called me crying. She had temperature of 101OF and a blinding headache, but it was an important day at her job, and she knew her supervisor really needed her help. “Stay home,” I said. “Tell him you’re sick, he’ll understand. Even if there wasn’t an emerging global pandemic, you’re legitimately sick. He’s understanding, this won’t affect your job at all. And call your doctor if the fever sticks around… If it was COVID-19, I would tell you just stay home, but it doesn’t sound like it, maybe you have something bacterial.” The next morning, things were about the same, so she called her doctor’s office and was advised to come in. A nurse wearing a gown, mask, and gloves took throat and nasal swabs. When the doctor came into the exam room, he was dressed similar, and stood at the farthest corner from her. “Well, rapid strep and flu are negative. We don’t test for it, but assume you have COVID-19. Go home and quarantine.”  At that point, believe it or not just three weeks ago, we only believed COVID-19 as a respiratory infection. She called me scared, suddenly afraid she might have a life-threatening illness. “Why would they say, just assume? What does this mean for me?” She lives with my 60-year-old mother, who had been dropping off groceries at her 85-year-old mother since the first reported case. Everyone had been doing their part at social distancing, but was it enough? I reached out to the New York Stat...
Source: Cord Blood News - Category: Perinatology & Neonatology Authors: Tags: Health Source Type: blogs