Did I have Covid-19?

It was the week of February 10th, 2020. I was scheduled to work on a production show on the 12th and 13th. My boyfriend at the time fell ill. He had a sore throat but dismissed it. One of our roommates fell ill the week prior, we shared a room bunkbed style. She was on the opposite side of the room and she kept to herself while she battled her flu. She used a steam machine of some kind to help her breathe through the congestion. I thought that was a bit much for a flu and she was 22 so I figured maybe she was asthmatic.

If you've ever worked on a film production, you know that the hours are long and can be arduous. In this case, we were stuck on a farm in the middle of nowhere with horses, dogs and cats around. It was maybe 12-15 of us all huddled in specific spaces at any given time, including lunch time. On the last day of work on the 13th, I had a sore throat. The lady who was doing the paperwork for all of the on screen talent was full blown sick. She was coughing, congested, watery eyes, the whole works, but we didn't think too much of it. One of my fellow screen actors also caught the flu and was pretty sick, couldn't breath through her nose.

On the 12th my boyfriend picked me up from work. He was drenched in sweat and moaning from discomfort. I thought he was being dramatic because he told me he was feeling better a couple days prior and we'd been smacking lips! I did feel sorry for him though, he seemed to be in a lot of pain. He needed me to step into the convenience store to get him some ginger ale. I saw face masks for construction workers while shopping and considered getting one but didn't. They seemed to have been selling out of shelves and in very low stock too. I got back to the car and my boyfriend had the heater on and the windows in the car were all shut tight, he was cold and having chills. I sat in the backseat to try to create some distance between us and also cracked my window to let in some air circulation.

Valentine's day rolled around, I had a sore throat and started feeling sick so I stayed in bed. The next day, actually the next 3 days started feeling like one day because I stayed in my bed for just about 3 days. I took ibuprofen tablet one after the other, up to 6 a day and knew this wasn't just the common flu. I laid on my right side for 3 days and if I needed to go into the kitchen or any common area, I covered my entire face. The nights were the worst, I had chills and would wake up drenched in sweat. I couldn't breath through my nose so I kept a towel on my pillow and breathed through my mouth. By the time Sunday rolled around, I told my boyfriend that I needed to go to an Urgent Care. I had a headache and could barely function. I walked very slowly and slightly bent into the Urgent Care, where I waited around 2 hours to be seen by a Physician. My boyfriend stayed in the car which we both decided would be better, he seemed fine and was no longer sick.

The Doctor swabbed my nose, tested it and came back with the results, he told me that I had a flu and prescribed over the counter flu medication. (I forgot the name of it) The medication didn't do much but my fever broke within the next day or two. I remember having a fever for 4 days. The Doctor told me that my temperature was 101, I'm pretty sure it was higher the previous days and nights. I took the medication for 10 days. I went back to work after I completed the medication but I was left with the worst cough I have ever had. My body was weak from coughing. The respiratory infections that I usually get year round from living in California typically last for a week and once I take any sort of medication, it clears up promptly. This flu was different.

My first day back at work, now that I think back to it was dismal for the spread of the coronavirus. I coughed with every step that I walked. Cough drops helped a little. My body felt a compulsion to cough violently and yet no mucus would come up. Yes, it was a dry cough. I believe that I did have the coronavirus because throughout the year and the months that followed, my cough remained dry and hollow which was very unusual. I also have acid reflux, so I cough sometimes depending on what I eat and my regular cough is always wet. Back to that day on set at work, this time filming a tv show... There must've been over 50 people working that day. We were shuttled in a bus to the location and once there, we entered into the building through secret hallways and back doors and settled into rooms with no ventilation. We were at an infamous hotel, a Hollywood landmark that was open for business so we needed to remain as hidden as possible so as not to disrupt the normal flow of business. I think I was the only person coughing. I remember sitting on the floor trying to keep my distance from everyone and stay bundled up and warm. Sooner than later, only a few of us were left, around 20 people in the room. Around 6 people sat at a table near to my post aka the column I was using for a backrest on the floor where I sat comfortably. They began talking about politics. They later invited me to the table since there was an extra chair. I think back now because there was an elderly man with white hair around the table, within safe distance to me, who was the most vocal and charismatic person there! He was the life of the party and I feel so badly today at the thought of possibly spreading my sickness with him... Although I figured that I was no longer contagious since three weeks had passed and I took all the prescribed medication, but was this the regular flu?

March 2020 rolled around, exactly one month after falling sick on March 13th, the Mayor of Los Angeles announced a stay-at-home order lasting two weeks. This was also when the world, or, more specifically the USA was notified or made aware of the novel coronavirus. I began to panic at the thought of everything and everyone being confined to our homes. It didn't hit me until later on that some of us, in my household, including myself could've already had it the month prior! According to the report, five people in the USA had contracted the disease and I believe there was one fatality of a young man in his early 30's who was asthmatic. Then we started to learn that it would prove fatal to those with pre-existing health conditions. As our stay-at-home order moved into partial then full lockdowns, I figured that there was no way to actually beat the spread of this thing and said to myself that herd immunity seemed inevitable. We all know what has become of the situation. We are now in January 2021 and the vaccines are here!

The question that I find myself asking now is, did I actually have the coronavirus back in February 2020? I feel like I did. Will taking the anti-body test to prove that it was in fact the coronavirus change anything? Has the coronavirus altered my immune system, more specifically, damaged my lungs? If I were to get the coronavirus now, would I survive it? According to the news here in LA, by March and April of this year, everyone will have access to the vaccination. President Joe Biden wants 100 million Americans to be vaccinated and now it has become political. 74 million people who practice Trumpism don't want to take the vaccine. Conspiracy Theorists believe all sorts of things about the vaccine and there's a stigma around it. I'm interested to know from the people who have taken the vaccine to see what their experience has been. In the meantime, I may actually take the anti-body test to answer the question once and for all, "Did I have Covid-19?"