Carson City resident cannot get tested for COVID-19, she says, despite showing symptoms

On Thursday, a sobering post began circulating through social media. Abby, a Carson City resident, believes she has COVID-19, and her doctor told her she is presumed to have it. However, because of a lack of tests available, she and many others like her are unable to be tested for the rapidly-spreading, potentially fatal virus.

Her story is as follows:

I have COVID-19. Presumably. I'll get into what that means. My husband as well. The Carson City health department refuses to test us.

We're okay, we're not in the hospital. But I want to bring awareness to the community that the numbers you hear in the news are not accurate, due to the lack of tests available. The virus is definitely out there in the community, so please don't go out thinking your odds are slim due to the few documented cases. Here is our story.

We have been socially distancing ourselves for a while. However, last Thursday (3/19), I went out to get some groceries and supplies in Carson City to help us stay inside. I was extremely careful. I wore gloves, stayed far away from everyone, used my own bags, and sanitized everything I purchased. But it wasn't enough. Monday night, I had a fever of 101.

When I woke up Tuesday morning (5 days after I went out), the lymph nodes in my neck and throat were swollen and painful. As the day progressed, I grew weaker and dizzier. I had a wicked headache, was dizzy, couldn't focus on anything, and my muscles felt like I had run a marathon. I could hardly move. When I pressed on my chest along my sternum, it felt like I was getting stabbed. (Gross detail incoming.) By the end of the night, I coughed up hard brown phlegm with a chunk of blood.

Wednesday I woke up feeling better, but by the end of the day I felt just as bad. However, no fever. In fact, Monday night was the only time I had a fever. Achey, tired, and a painful chest. Very slight, but dry cough. This is when my husband started coughing, and had a fever of 100.

Today is Thursday. My muscle pain and lymph node pain are mostly gone, but I feel weaker and dizzier than ever. My breaths are getting short. My pulse is high. 110, actually. I almost passed out in the shower. It felt like I couldn't breathe. My chest hurts, like a knife is sitting in it. But the weird thing is, no sore throat, no nasal issues, no gastro issues. Our symptoms don't match up with anything other than COVID, except maybe some kind of strain of flu.

After I coughed up blood on Wednesday, I messaged my doctor, who told me to either come get tested for flu and strep to rule them out, or just stay inside and see how I feel for a few days. Well, after the increasing chest pain and shortness of breath, my husband and I decided to go.

We were tested from inside our car. A nurse came out with protective equipment and swabbed us for the flu and strep. We were told to receive our test results via phone shortly, only to wait a while and instead receive a call from the doctor asking us about our travel history and if we had any known contact with COVID-19 patients. Along with a thorough history of our symptoms. We tested negative for flu and strep, she said, and she needed to come out to examine us.

She came out to the car and listened to our hearts, lungs, and checked our oxygen levels. We are okay. But she said we are presumed to have it, gave us instructions on social isolation since we are no longer able to leave the house, and told us to contact the health department to ask for a test, since they did not have any. She was doubtful the health department would be willing to test us, but said to try anyway. She also told me to go to the ER immediately if my symptoms get worse, like if I have a hard time breathing. She said with the virus, our symptoms would likely get worse over time. So I will be watching our symptoms carefully.

Anyway, "presumably" means all of our symptoms and the timeline line up with the virus according to the doctor, and we definitely do not have the flu, which is pretty much the only other likely explanation that would make sense with our symptoms.

We can't say we tested positive without being able to take a test. It's next to impossible to be tested unless you are elderly, have known contact with the virus, or are otherwise considered high-risk. This is because so few tests are available, which is not the health department’s fault. We don’t blame them for reserving the tests. While we don't want to "waste" tests, we believe the health department deserves to know just how far it has spread in the community, so that people will take this more seriously.

Only 4 people in Carson City have COVID-19? No. Only 4 people with the virus were qualified to take the test. People need to be aware that many others are sick like us, but without a test, will never become a number.

It's funny, actually. My friends and family have been in shock this week. I did not want to tell Facebook until I was pretty darn sure I had it. But they've been in shock because I've been extremely paranoid. I've hardly gone out, and when I did, I was overly cautious. I only talked to my parents through the car the last couple of weeks, I'm that paranoid.

Thank GOODNESS I was paranoid and did not expose my parents or anyone else. (I have not been out since I caught the virus.) My husband and I will continue to stay at home long past our symptoms are gone, for the sake of our community and loved ones.

At any rate, we're doing okay. We are breathing okay. We feel completely terrible, but our oxygen levels are good and our lungs sound good, so we will just be taking it easy. The doctor warned us around day 7 of symptoms is when things tend to get very bad, so we are going to keep watching and will get to the ER right away if we can't breathe. BUT, we don't anticipate that. We're young and healthy! I absolutely cannot imagine how someone who is older or with poor lungs would handle this. I cannot. I just can't. I'm healthy and this is terrible enough.

STAY. INSIDE.

I don't care how young you are. How healthy you are. JUST STAY INSIDE. IT'S NOT WORTH IT. I don't care if you think it's not in your community. IT IS. DO NOT TRUST THE NUMBERS. Only people who can actually get tested will be part of the numbers.

Tests are in such short-supply, they are saving them mostly for high-risk patients and medical workers. They have so few, they only want to use them if it could help save their lives. We are glad they are taking this seriously and reserving tests for those who need them, but also want to remind people that it means many people in the community are possibly sick with the virus, just like us, and we don’t have a way to know until more tests are available, or worse, the hospital starts to fill.

MAKE YOUR FRIENDS, PARENTS, AND GRANDPARENTS STAY INSIDE. Do not invite each other over. And if you think you can just keep grocery shopping like it's no big deal, you are wrong. Stay inside, order Instacart, disinfect your groceries if you can, and while you're at it, teach your Grandma how to use Instacart too. Do grocery pickup if you don’t have Instacart where you live. Anything. And if you have a high-risk person in your household, ask someone else to get your groceries.

You don't want this. It's painful and exhausting. Neither my husband nor I have felt anything like this before.

More importantly, you don't want to be a carrier of this and spread it to someone who is high-risk.

STAY INSIDE. I'm extremely paranoid and I still caught it. Just stay inside. Tell everyone you know to stay inside. Please.

CONFIRMED NUMBERS AREN'T EVERYONE!

Don’t be scared, please just stay home, and you will be safe.

- I am not trying to scare people. I just want to bring awareness that this can happen to anyone at this point, and to stay home.
- Presumed means we are not 100% sure without a test available, but we've been told to assume we have it.
- Test availability and spread vary by community, but you should just assume it's in your community to be safe.
- Symptoms vary with everyone, and many people carry it around symptomless. We weren't so lucky. If you get it, it may not be as bad as us, so please don't freak out, just stay home.

***

Abby then provided an update on Friday regarding additional attempts at testing:

We called the health department in Carson City, and despite multiple phone screenings and agreeing it sounds like we have it, and even though we were tested negative for flu and strep, they will not test us. They said they are going by CDC guidelines (which we completely understand) and we do not qualify to be tested, as it will "do nothing for us." I told them I am more concerned about community numbers being accurate. She took a long deep breath, and said sadly, "Yeah... we don't know how many people actually have it..."

"I also want to make it clear I am not upset with or attacking the health department or my medical care team," said Abby to Carson Now. "They are doing the best they can right now, and it's not their faults there aren't enough tests. I am glad they are saving the tests for people whose lives can be saved with that knowledge. I just wish there were more tests available so we can have a better idea of community spread before it's too late. I also don't want to scare anyone, I just want to encourage people to stay home."

Since her post began catching steam on social media, others have reached out to Abby and her family both with sympathy, and to share their own experiences with not being able to be tested.

"So many people have reached out to me with similar stories, and it breaks my heart," said Abby to Carson Now. "I know that my husband and I are not alone, and there are others out there just as sick as us. What’s worse is that some are high-risk or work in the medical field and still can’t get tested unless they become hospitalized. It is a scary time for so many people. I have also received many messages from people expressing great fear for their high-risk family members. But I do not want anyone to be any more nervous than they already are. I could have avoided going out. I could have done grocery pickup. I could have avoided it if I just stayed home. At that point in time I thought I was doing enough not to get sick. Now I see that we should avoid going inside of stores altogether, if at all possible. Limiting grocery trips and doing car pickup will help reduce the spread in the community."

The reason behind her post, Abby said, isn't to scare people, but to desperately try to keep them inside.

"I made the post as soon as I got home from the doctor, because I thought I could help convince some of my friends and family members to stay inside," she said. "I never imagined it would be shared over a thousand times in the community. I am so glad more people are understanding we don’t know how much it has spread, and to just stay home. My heart is with everyone in the area who have stories like mine. I’m just the person who happened to speak up. My husband and I are recovering well at home."

As of 9 a.m. Saturday, two additional cases have been confirmed within the community, bringing the total to 11.