My Roommates & I All Experienced Symptoms Of COVID-19, But None Of Us Can Get Tested
I knew as soon as I started to feel like this, I knew I had caught COVID-19.
I live in New York, and despite the fact that I’ve not been tested, I know my body, and I believe I caught Coronavirus.
What does it feel like to catch the Coronavirus?
The symptoms of COVID-19 are obvious, not just physically for me, but for New York City.
What once was bustling and full of life is now a lonely and desolate place.
It seems like everyone is going a little stir crazy at the moment. Usually, the streets of New York are bursting with people.
Performers getting ready for showtime; people on the subway.
However, right now, barely anyone is walking around in New York City, and the few that are, are wearing a mask to protect themselves from COVID-19.
How I was exposed to Coronavirus
On the evening of March 15, 2020, Governor Cuomo declared a shutdown, and that all commercial gyms, small theatres, and nightclubs would close down to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Up until that evening, I was taking the subway to get to my job, which happens to be working at the front desk at a popular spin studio.
Before the studio was mandated to close, we had sold out classes each day in a room that fits 62 stationary bikes.
So, at least 200 people were taking an hour out of their day to get their workout in before they wouldn’t be allowed to anymore.
It seemed like we were the last fitness place to close, like yoga and other spin studios voluntarily closed their doors before they were mandated to.
Clients would come up to me and other staff members and thank us for staying open for them as if we had a choice in the matter.
When these clients would leave the studio, we would wipe down their sweaty bikes and clean the studio to the best of our ability.
These clients were only putting themselves at risk for an hour in a germ-infested spin studio.
However, the other staff members and I had to show up for hours on end because it was our job to do so.
Our clients practiced social distancing, but the staff at my gym did not.
Most people were practicing social distancing by that time, but we would come in and hug each other hello like we always do because we figured “we probably already have the coronavirus by now.”
Since Sunday, the evening of March 15, 2020, when Governor Cuomo declared that the place I worked would have to shut down, I have not left my home in Astoria, Queens.
My roommates had to work in areas where there were lots of people and they were exposed to COVID-19 as well.
I have two other roommates and one of them now has their boyfriend staying with us as well.
One of my roommates worked at a bar up until it got shut down, handling money without gloves on. Her boyfriend worked at a school dealing with children up until schools closed.
Four days after the shut-down, I started to wonder if I had COVID-19 symptoms.
By Thursday, one of my roommates and I started to feel like we caught a cold. It wasn’t too bad at first, it just felt like a sinus infection.
My roommate was coughing a lot and I was sniffling a lot. We joked that maybe we have COVID-19.
The day after I was confident I had caught the Coronavirus because of my fever.
However, the next morning we were no longer laughing at that idea.
When I woke up that Friday, I was in a puddle of sweat and had a fever of 101.
My roommate also woke up with a fever but wasn’t feeling too bad besides having a cough.
Even though I've not been tested, I believe what I'm experiencing is COVID-19 related.
I'm exhausted, unlike anything I have ever felt before.
It was like I woke up and drank a bottle of NyQuil because of how fatigued I felt.
So, I immediately went back to sleep for about twelve hours, simply trying to sleep off whatever I was feeling.
I basically slept the whole weekend, on and off. I just woke up every couple of hours to take a Tylenol and to chug some water.
I tried to get tested, but I was denied.
At this point, I figured I should call a doctor and see if I could come in to get a test.
So, I made a call and described my symptoms to them.
They basically said that they aren’t testing young and generally healthy people that don’t have extreme symptoms.
However, they did say that it sounds like me and my roommates have the virus and so, we were to act as such.
My roommate was not tested, but someone at his workplace was, and they were positive for COVID-19.
A couple of hours after calling the doctor, my roommate's boyfriend got an email from the principal at the school he works at.
The email was sent out to let the staff know that someone at the school received a positive test for COVID-19.
Although we didn’t have access to a test, that information gave us some clarity in knowing that if we did take a test it would probably come back positive as well.
My roommate lost her sense of taste and smell, a symptom of COVID-19.
By Monday, my other roommate, who was showing no signs or symptoms, lost all taste and smell.
She prides herself on her keen sense of smell but declared that even if she “put lavender up her nose right now” she wouldn’t be able to smell it.
From that point on, every time she would eat food, she would complain about not being able to taste anything.
On the bright side, she has been eating only healthy food since because “might as well.”
Others who live with us got sick as well.
The next day, my roommate's boyfriend came down with a fever and has also been feeling completely exhausted.
At this point, I have barely had the energy to get up from my bed.
On top of feeling burnt out, I have had headaches on and off.
I did try to go take a quick walk outside just to get air.
However, on the way up the stairs back to my apartment I felt like I couldn’t breathe.
I was completely winded from my five-minute walk and then collapsed back into bed for a three-hour nap.
Nearly a week later, I'm still recovering.
I am still exhausted.
It has been days of napping for long amounts of time and waking up with my eyelids feeling heavy.
I truly feel like I could hibernate and wouldn’t wish this feeling on my worst enemy.
COVID-19 has affected every one of my roommates differently, but we all know we have it.
It feels like a weird virus that started off as a cold. I have come down with many colds in my life, but nothing has ever felt as strange and as tiring as this is.
You know your body better than anyone and you will simply know if something feels out of sorts and if you feel sick in a different way.
On the other hand, some people, like one of my roommates, barely show any symptoms.
She probably wouldn’t know that she had it if the rest of us weren’t feeling sick.
So, it is important that everyone stays home and practices social distancing during this time to prevent the spread of the virus.
You never know who could have it and who you could give it to.
Thankfully, it has been mild for me but I have been staying inside because I don’t want to give it to someone that could be hospitalized from it.
It is a scary virus so we have to do our best to keep ourselves and others safe.
Jaycee Levin is a writer who covers pop culture, astrology, and relationship topics.