MERCER COUNTY, WV (WOAY) – Last week, the Mercer County Health Department announced that the third person to test positive for COVID-19 in the county had recovered.
We have recently been in contact with the patient over the phone and through email to give them a chance to share their experience, and to keep their identity completely private, we will be referring to them as Patient 3.
Patient 3 said that they believed their case was “exceptionally mild.” It started out as what seemed like a common cold and then odd symptoms stuck around.
“I had a common cold, and when that went away, I could not taste or smell anything. I thought this was odd, and a day or two later I found out that people were beginning to report that as a new symptom for COVID-19, so that’s the first time I thought I could possibly have it. I never had a fever or felt sick at all.”
When they reached out to their doctor about their symptoms, Patient 3 was able to quickly get a test done which came back positive.
“I wasn’t shocked, and I wasn’t too scared since I had not been in contact with anybody outside of my household for approximately two weeks when I received my positive test.”
After the positive result, Patient 3 was quarantined and was checked in on regularly by the health department.
“A nurse from the health department was in contact with me twice daily, and I had to report my symptoms and temperatures to her until my two-week quarantine was up. I also had to report the temperatures of everybody in my household since we were quarantined together, and they could possibly be exposed.”
Now, the patient is back to feeling normal again and feels “thankful” to have experienced very mild symptoms.