'Nobody wants to cause someone else's tragedy': how a Ukrainian got ill with COVID-19 in Los Angeles
'27.04.2020'
Source: AIN.UA
28-year-old Ukrainian designer Evgenia Kornienko lives in Los Angeles, works in an American startup Brainbase. In March, he and a guy got a coronavirus. In an interview AIN.UA she talked about the disease and how quarantine takes place in the city.
How did you know that you’re sick? What were the symptoms?
When all this hype with quarantine had already begun, I still went to work, the last time I was there somewhere on March 11th.
Since March 16, quarantine was officially introduced and on March 13 we settled at home, and my boyfriend began to appear the first symptoms on the same day. At first there was a pulling pain in the muscles.
I remember, I still teased him, they say, how suspicious, everyone around will be worn out, and you immediately found symptoms in yourself. At first I was very skeptical about the severity of the virus and thought that, as usual, panic is inflated from scratch. As it turned out, I was deeply mistaken.
After a couple of days, he had a slight temperature, up to 38,5 ℃, severe chills and lethargy. And just 5 days after his first symptoms, I fell ill.
Have you traveled with him before? Maybe they flew to China?
No. The last time we were in Kansas was maybe on Christmas Day. In general, although I was skeptical, I was very careful. We followed all safety precautions, bought a couple of hand sanitizers, and didn’t go outside without need.
We have a small circle of friends, none of our friends have traveled in the past couple of months. In fact, we went to the grocery store and met friends a couple of times until we were completely isolated.
It still remains a mystery to me how we managed to get infected by traveling only to the supermarket and meeting with a couple of friends to isolation. Moreover, none of the closest associates have symptoms, we alone distinguished ourselves.
When were they checked and how did they go about treatment?
I started having symptoms, all as if on a list: muscle pain, joint pain, dry cough, which I do not even have with the flu, the temperature is up to 38,9 ℃, terrible chills and severe headache. Not wanting to realize the reality of what was happening, I still sinned for any viral infection.
On the third day after the first symptoms, I completely lost the sense of taste and smell. As if the switch was turned off. I stuffed my nose into a bottle of vinegar and felt nothing. Any food tasted like you were chewing a piece of cardboard. Disinfected the toilet and sinks with bleach - nothing, absolutely no smell.
We kept in touch with our doctor, even when the first symptoms appeared in the guy. We are subscribed to One Medical private clinic - you pay $ 200 a year and forget that medicine in the USA is slow and uncomfortable. You can get to the doctor almost on the same day and there is online support 24/7, and you can also contact the doctor via video link. I’ll clarify that our work insurance covers all clinics, we just pay extra to get quick access to doctors out of turn in two to three weeks.
My young man began to learn how to do the test. The doctor said that while there are no obvious symptoms and it could just be a cold, the test cannot be passed, since at that time there was still a ban on testing people without critical symptoms. I think this is due to the fact that the number of tests was limited. As far as I know, now the situation has improved, and the test can be done in the presence of mild symptoms.
Are you not dying? Stay at home and don't be fooled. A few days later, when we reported a new symptom - the loss of taste and smell, literally on the same day another patient with the same symptom received a positive test result in our clinic. Therefore, we managed to get the "cherished invitation to the test."
I won’t talk much about the test. Just leave it here a photo.
They make a nasal swab: they stick a meter stick in the nose and twist it while you cough, sneeze, sob with your head bowed.
The results came in five days (now they are done within XNUMX hours). We received a text message in a medical application: your results are positive.
Aren't you very scared? Didn’t panic?
No. While we were waiting for the test - it was already clear that we were infected, plus we did the test on March 22, the results came on the 27th, and my symptoms were already on the decline. From the whole time of the illness, 2-3 days I felt very bad: my head was in fog, a strong temperature, I just lay on the couch, curled up in a ball and did not even talk to the guy. It felt like a great malaise with fever and constant migraine.
Doctors along with the result of the tests prescribed are treated symptomatically. To drink an analgesic / antipyretic - in our case, Tylenol. Rumor has it that you should not drink ibuprofen. They are not verified, but away from sin.
Now I have the fourth week of the disease, in the third week my chest pains started, the doctors said to wait and see as. If it is very bad - call an ambulance. The main symptoms disappeared, the taste returned by 60 percent. I still cough a little, but I feel that I have almost completely recovered. I now answer friends who ask about health: it is good that I had a corona light case.
You and the guy were sent to be treated at home? They demanded to observe isolation, did they follow this?
Yes, we were treated at home.
And on the second question: I was very surprised, but at that time there was a feeling that the doctors just did not give a damn about the course of positive cases. Do not complain, and nice. They wrote to us, they say, the test is positive, sit at home, don’t go anywhere, if you need to go somewhere, put on a mask. If it becomes difficult to breathe or if you get dizzy when you get up, you lose consciousness - call 911. And that’s it.
After the test, we were contacted only once. The guy got a call from the LA Health Department, they asked 3-4 questions: how does he feel, whether we were traveling, what we think, where he could get infected, asked about self-isolation, temperature.
We didn’t do a retest, we complied CDC recommendations exit self-isolation.
But I was very surprised that no one was watching whether we were keeping isolation, how we were feeling. You never know, maybe we threw back our hooves in three weeks.
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Have you already been quarantined? What rules apply?
Yes. We have opened only vital businesses (essential businesses), shops with products, laundries, gas stations. Still opened shops with alcohol and marijuana. Restaurants work only on takeaway, you need to book in advance.
All other shops are closed; in downtown, many restaurants and shops boarded up windows to avoid looting. All office workers were transferred to udalenka. True, the construction across the road from us is still going on, but there everything is masked.
Our mayor announced that from April 10 it will be impossible to go to the store without a mask / bandana on his face. I safely forgot about it and I was expelled from the grocery store. I had to run into the car and knit a scarf on my nose. Some Los Angeles cities have even introduced $ 1000 fines for non-compliance.
Are there any restrictions on movement? In our country (Ukraine), for example, you can walk 2 people, you can’t wear a mask without a passport.
Ours, as always, brought everything to insanity. Complete idiocy.
Our measures are softer: gather no more than five people, cover your face with a mask or bandana. When the weather is nice, we have crowds walking through the streets. But everyone keeps a distance.
The other day, for the first time in several weeks, we went for a walk, we wanted to ride a bike to the ocean. We went along the bike path to the beaches, along the river, reaching the ocean, met a sign that even the beach bike paths are closed. Apparently, it was hard to control the flow of people.
At the moment, all beaches, parks, trails are closed. You can get to the beach, but I'm not interested in the idea of getting a $ 1000 fine.
What do you have in hospitals? Is there enough medicine or equipment?
A familiar nurse complains that there are not enough masks, that doctors are very poorly protected.
We had a dozen N95 masks, we bought them, even when there were strong fires. I wrote on Facebook that I can give them to the hospital. The familiar nurse responded, drove up and picked them up from our garage. So at least remotely, but I made my contribution.
I talked with a couple of nurses: they don’t even give doctors such protection as they did in China or Italy. It seems that the doctor can pull the bag over his head, that's all protection.
It seems to me that the country was simply not ready for this. Everyone thought to the last that he would carry. This took everyone by surprise, no one thought that such an amount of equipment and personal protection would be needed for doctors.
But the situation is gradually improving: now local governments are beginning to take action at the local level. The mayor of Los Angeles said we’ll stay at home for at least two more months.
Do you have local initiatives to support doctors, local businesses, and equipment?
We try to donate money where necessary, to support local business, order food in local small take-away restaurants, and produce from local farmers. I plan to start volunteering and buy products for people who are at high risk.
Businesses try to be responsible: for example, our grocery stores from 7:00 to 8:00 are open only to the elderly, they do not let anyone else in.
People do a lot more locally than government. You know, there is some feeling that the people have rallied and are trying to get out together, without the help of the state. There is hope for the future.
In our company, little has changed either: you could work from home before. Salaries are not cut. Communication with colleagues, of course, is not enough. It is difficult to force yourself to get out of your pajamas, so often we make morning calls without a camera.
Quarantine is very relaxing, I haven’t worked from home for so long.
Many of my friends were cut, many were cut off their salaries. The former rummeit of my young man was reduced by 15%, but at least he kept his job. The bride of an acquaintance trained as a nurse in a private clinic, she was reduced. Only the first-aid posts were left in that hospital, the rest were fired.
Starbucks has shut down everything, but it still pays its employees. DollarShaveClub (the heroine worked in this company before - ed.) Sent employees to work from home, but as far as I know there were no layoffs, the business, on the contrary, is now flourishing, because people do not want to go to stores and use subscription and delivery services.
But the situation outside startups is rather sad. According to official figures, 17 million people applied for unemployment benefits over the past month.
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San Francisco was famous for its sky-high rent. How high are the prices in LA and have they changed after quarantine?
San Francisco rental horror stories are all true. When I lived there in 2014, I paid $ 2000 per month for a room with a shared bathroom.
In LA, renting is far from so expensive, prices in many areas have now fallen, and an apartment on Airbnb can be rented for a penny. Next week I want to find a small house in the desert, take a dog and a guy, and spend a week in a different atmosphere.
We also introduced a rent-freeze: if you can’t pay the rent, by law they cannot evict you until there is isolation in the city. But you still have to pay the rent later.
What is the mood in society? Hysterical panic or do people wait until this is over?
I would say that I do not experience panic as such. It was funny to see completely empty shelves with toilet paper and flour.
Many people packed 3-4 large packages into baskets, and YouTube has videos where people fight for toilet paper. Firstly, diarrhea is a rare symptom, secondly, since when did the Americans start something to bake?
Many people tear off the roof from isolation, friends ask to visit. A couple of acquaintances came to us while we were still sick - they were sitting in the car, and we were on the grass near the house 5 meters from each other. So we talked.
We call up the guys in the evenings, arrange a "sortie to a bar at home." Yesterday they made a “barbecue crown” at home with two guys who were already ill too.
But in general, everyone calmly reacts to this, they sit at home. We sit and wait for mortality to decrease. I want people to take this topic more seriously, because I’m sure no one wants to cause someone else’s tragedy.
