San Fernando Valley resident Ilyse Dawes was able to hug her daughter Charlotte for the first time in two weeks. This after Charlotte tested positive for COVID-19 upon returning from a trip to Paris and Miami. They tell Inside the Issues what it is like to live with a coronavirus positive diagnosis and self-quarantine. 

“I was fearful at first but I could when we got the positive test back ... she had already seemed to be doing better,” Ilyse said. “She took a lot of supplements recommended by my doctor who was very calming and assured me that we were going to be fine.”

Charlotte said she is unclear exactly where she contracted the coronavirus. While in Paris there was a bit of fear at the time but she was being very cautious.

“We traveled with masks and wiped everything down and wore gloves,” she said. They flew to Miami, where they stayed for three nights, to meet up with friends. 

“We all woke up on Monday with varying symptoms. It was about six of us. And so I immediately got tested,” Charlotte recalls, “but it’s still unclear where exactly I picked up the virus. We’re thinking, probably some sort of night club in Miami. We were around a lot of people in public places.”

Charlotte has had some experience with weird viruses and infections - in the past, she’s experienced both swine flu and E. coli. When she first started feeling symptoms she thought it might just be from staying out too late while traveling.

“I woke up with very intense body aches and fever, sweats, chills. I surprisingly didn’t have a sore throat or cough that first day,” she detailed. “But that’s why I also felt obligated to share what I was going through as soon as I could, because I wanted to make sure people were being cautious about these varying symptoms and keeping an eye out for cases that could be asymptomatic.”

She has also been in contact with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, who helped to spread the word to those who she had come into contact with while infected.

“They contacted the Uber driver I had the night before, they contacted the airline and told them what seat I was in,” she said.

It was hard for Ilyse to take care of Charlotte during her quarantine.

“She stayed at the other end of the house [and] we would put her food out on dining room table or at her door,” she said. “If she ever came into the kitchen, which was very rare, she would wear a mask and gloves and then throw the gloves away.”

Ilyse said she and her husband also self-quarantined outside of the occasional walk. But she’s not stir-crazy yet.

“There’s so much to do in your own home, it's incredible, even though it doesn't even seem like you do anything all day long. The day goes by, you read the paper, you juice, you have a little snack, maybe watch something on TV, it’s really actually been fine.”

It has been a bit harder on Charlotte, on the other hand, who described herself as “very social” and someone who likes to exercise, since she wasn’t even allowed to go out the front door.  

“I had just been traveling for a month and was around people for a month straight, so it was a little bit of a shock,” she said. “It’s definitely been really nice to just catch up on things and have some time to reflect and read and all of that, but I [couldn’t] even go for a walk.”

She used that time to get the word out about what restaurants are offering and how to help them.

“I tried to streamline the delivery, pickup and crowdfunding information for local bars, restaurants and liquor stores in LA and New York so that people could look at all the information in one place and figure out what there is they can buy or where to donate.”

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