Slate. "Coronavirus Diaries: I Had the Coronavirus. This Was the Worst Part."

[NRaleighLiberal]

https://slate.com/technology/2020/03/i-had-the-coronavirus-worst-part-stigma.html

On Feb. 14, the first flu symptoms came. I remember it pretty well because it was Valentine’s Day, and now for fun I say that I got a “crown” from my valentine [in Italian, corona means crown]. I felt weak, I had a cough, and I was particularly tired. On Feb. 16, the symptoms got worse. I took my temperature, and it was 101.3 Fahrenheit. I made an appointment with the doctor—I wanted to know what was going on. I went to his clinic, and after the visit he gave me the usual prescription for the flu. His only advice: “Stay home.” The first outbreak of COVID-19 had not yet exploded. Doctors were on alert, but nothing compared to now.


On Feb. 21, my 59th birthday, I had chills, and, instead of getting better, the cough only got worse. It was a kind of cough that I didn’t like. I’ve had pneumonia three times in the past, and I could tell from the sound that it wasn’t good. That was the same day the newspapers reported patient No. 1 was hospitalized, in Codogno, near Lodi. It was the beginning of the infection—or, better, the beginning of the chaos. I started to worry. I tried to call the two emergency numbers dedicated to COVID-19. I called and called back, but it was always busy, the lines were blocked, stormed by panicked people. I managed to connect with them a day and a half later. They told me they would call me back from the ministry of health, but they never did.

I called Sacco, Milan’s hospital specialized in infectious diseases, but they were full and had no more rooms for isolation. They told me to go to the hospital in Treviglio, smaller and closer to my home. I live alone, my son is far away, and I didn’t know whom to ask for help. [The phone number] 112, our 911, was not responding. I felt really sick at this point, and I decided to go to the emergency room by car. There they scolded me, I shouldn’t have gone, but I didn’t know what to do. I knew it was banned, but I had no other choice.

I told them about my symptoms, and I also told them I had contact with people from Asia (even though in hindsight I realize I could have gotten it anywhere). A lightbulb went on over their heads, and I was hospitalized. They took some X-rays, and they confirmed that I had pneumonia. There were no rooms in isolation, though, so they put me on a stretcher in an unused office that lacked even a bathroom. Every two hours they would come to check my vitals. They gave me the swab, and the results came back a day later: positive for COVID-19.

snip