What is it like to have COVID-19?

By Nimrat Bains
Staff Writer | The Pacific Times

COVID-19 is more common than you may think.

Some of our NP3 community members have tested positive and The Pacific Times asked them to share their experiences with COVID-19.

Joshua Diaz is a sophomore at NP3. He contracted COVID-19 during Thanksgiving.

“My brother came over and we weren’t aware he had COVID,” said Diaz.

Diaz and his family tested positive for COVID-19.

“I had a loss of taste, smell, and a cough and felt sick for a day,” said Diaz. “For my mom and dad, it was life threatening for them. It just depends on the person.”

Diaz said having family and taking Vitamin C helped him through this experience.

If your symptoms get too serious, you should immediately get help, said Diaz.

“There is nothing you can really do. If you start coughing and you can’t stop, go to the hospital right away because things like that can lead to pneumonia,” said Diaz.

An NP3 High teacher told The Pacific Times that she contracted COVID-19 from a family member.

“I contracted COVID through my mom,” said the NP3 High School teacher, who wished to remain anonymous. The teacher’s mom was going to have lunch at her brother’s house but an uncle of her aunt visited without informing them.

The teacher believes if you don’t feel comfortable in a situation, you need to stand up for yourself.

“My mom felt like she couldn’t say anything because she didn’t want to be rude, she says that she learned her lesson,” said the teacher. “Even if it’s family, you need to protect yourself.”

COVID symptoms may vary from person to person, the teacher explained.

“I experienced nausea, headaches, and body aches,” she said. “It felt like your ribs were being squished.”

The teacher described feeling weak and fatigued as well as having a high fever of 102°.

“I had to take (my parents both) to the hospital when I was sick because we were contagious and we didn’t want to call the ambulance because that’s expensive,” shared the teacher.

The teacher’s tips for recovery included, “Be very patient, sleep a lot, eat and stay hydrated. Take medicine as suggested and keep in contact with your doctor.”

Like Diaz, the teacher advised going to the hospital symptoms worsen.

“If you have really strong chest pain and you feel like you can’t breath then you need to ask someone to take you to the emergency room,” said the teacher. “Do not wait until the last minute until you feel really, really sick.”

The teacher said she believes the support of her doctor, family and friends is what helped her get through having COVID-19. Staying positive was also important.

“Keeping in touch with my doctor, knowing that I could call. Stay in contact with family and friends that can send you positive messages all the time cause when you’re sick, you start thinking of all the bad things that could happen.” said the teacher. “It’s easier to think about all the bad things that could happen then the good things that could happen.”

Despite staying safe, a NP3 High School staff member is still unsure how she and her husband contracted COVID-19.

“I’m actually not sure how I got it but my husband and I got it at the same time, we don’t know if we got it at a grocery store,” said the staff member, who also wished to remain anonymous. “We haven’t been able to figure out if there was a person before that who gave it to us.”

For a couple of days, the staff member was unaware she had COVID-19 and thought it was the stomach flu.

“Originally, I thought I had the stomach flu or something for a few days,” she said. “When my husband started not feeling good, that’s when we knew we needed to get tested.”

With COVID-19, the staff member had a fever, fatigue and lost her sense of taste and smell, she felt nauseous and tired as well.

“I constantly felt exhausted throughout the day, even if I was sleeping. I just didn’t have the energy,” she said. “That was the toughest, not being able to taste or smell anything.”

Sleeping, taking medication, and eating healthy helped the staff member recover from COVID-19. She said the doctor encouraged her and her husband to take Advil and Tylenol to help with headaches and fever. She also tried to eat healthy to keep her energy levels up.

“Definitely rest up and take the time to take care of yourself. When you’re not feeling well, giving yourself that time to rest and make sure you’re okay to be around,” the staff member said. “Ask for help, we asked family members to drop off food for us or pick groceries for us because it’s hard to do it on your own.”