A California man has revealed what it’s like to get coronavirus – saying it hurts to breathe, he almost passed out from exhaustion and can barely walk.
Justin Wilhite, 39, from Sacramento, posted his symptoms on Twitter – saying he first got sick around March 4 but dismissed it as allergies until collapsing nine days later.
While he has yet to be tested for the illness due to a lack of kits, doctors have told him he almost certainly has the virus and has been told to quarantine with his family.
Wilhite has also urged people to stay to home to avoid catching the disease, warning that it is nothing like the flu and is far more difficult to deal with.
Justin Wilhite, a 39-year-old Type I diabetic from Sacramento, has told what it’s like to get coronavirus – from struggling to breathe to almost passing out
Wilhite explained he got sick on March 4 but thought it was allergies, went to the hospital nine days later and was treated for flu, but quickly went back after that made him worse and his doctors now believe he has coronavirus
There are currently more than 6,500 confrimed cases of coronavirus in the US, though observers warn that is almost certainly an under-estimate because of problems with testing.
In total, 115 people have died from the disease with the elderly and those with underlying health conditions most at risk.
California has placed some 7million people living in the Bay Area under a stay-to-home order,
Describing how the virus affected him, Justin – a Type 1 diabetic – said: ‘March 4th I began getting a headache and I could feel my lungs, which is weird.
‘But everything is blooming so I chalked it up to allergies. My breathing became progressively more labored and began to hurt.
‘Last Friday I went to the ER because I nearly passed out for no apparent reason. By that point it hurt to breathe. I mean inhale and exhale.
Wilhite spoke out after the Bay Area was placed under a shelter-in-place order, meaning 7million people will be largely confined to their homes until further notice
Mounted officers patrol the area outside Pier 39 in San Francisco on day one of the shelter in place order
Pharmacies and grocery stores will be allowed to remain open during the shelter-in-place order, but other business have been effectively shuttered
‘To go along with this freaking headache, it’s uncomfortable.’
Justin said he was initially treated for the flu and given ibuprofen as a painkiller and an inhaler, and sent home.
But he said the painkillers didn’t help and the inhaler caused his lungs to burn, so he went back to the hospital.
France has since issued a warning against using ibuprofen to treat coronavirus, saying it could worsen the effects.
Writing on Tuesday, Justin continued: ‘Today it hurts to breathe so much. Walking to the bathroom is like running a marathon. The headache doesn’t go away.
‘Don’t think chest pain like a heart attack or flu. This isn’t the flu. We all pretty much know the flu. Think deeper, think lung pain.
‘It’s hard to visualize but think when you breathe cold air and that “pain” before your lungs warm back up. Kinda like that.’
He added: ‘Now I’m home and “quarantining” with my family. If I feel worse I need to go back.
‘So far my vitals are great. O2 is 100% but the next few days can really kick my ass.
‘If I drop bellow 90% I get oxygen, 85% I get intubated, and at that point it becomes scary.’
Issuing a warning to those who have dismissed the virus as little worse than seasonal flu – including Donald Trump – he added: ‘This is no flu. The flu is it’s own thing. This feels SO much different than a flu.
‘Don’t sleep on this thing people. I’m a very healthy type I diabetic. My body is fighting it very well but it’s kicking my ass. Don’t be a moron. Stay home!’
Coronavirus has spread to every US state and infected more than 6,500 people – though experts believe this is an under-estimate. 115 have died
Donald Trump has urged people to stay at home for the next 15 days and avoid gatherings of more than 10 people to slow the spread of the virus
For the next two weeks, the Trump administration has asked that all Americans practice social distancing, which means avoiding gatherings of 10 or more people.
Although it falls short of an order, the new guidelines ask that anyone with even mild symptoms stay home for those two weeks in an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus.
Experts have widely agreed that the US as a whole has surpassed a tipping point in the coronavirus pandemic, and now the infection has spread to all 50 states in the US.
As cases surged last week, Trump declared a national state of emergency and Tuesday announced additional measures to expand testing.
But the US surgeon general has warned that a 15-day lockdown won’t be enough to beat the disease, after a leaked federal planning document suggested the pandemic could go on for 18 months or more.
Jerome Adams pleaded with Americans to ‘pitch in’ an self-isolate now if they want to help stop the spread of the virus.
Millions have heeded the advice and are avoiding going out. Some, like in cities where the pandemic spreading the quickest, are calling for harsher action, like a two-week national shutdown to force people indoors.
On Tuesday, startling new data revealed that as many as 2million Americans may die if no further action is taken but that making people self-isolate now for 18 months could cut that figure to 200,000.
There has not been a clear cut answer on how long Americans will have to continue living in this current state of crisis.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has said the current state of crisis could last nine months, whereas experts overseas say it could even longer.
In Italy, which went into self-isolation a week ago, 31,000 people are infected and more than 2,600 have died.
South Korea was able to flatten the curve of the virus spread and has now seen a downward trend in new cases for the fourth day in a row due to harsh and early rules that people must stay inside.