Southern California mom says she got COVID-19 twice
A Los Angeles woman says she got the coronavirus, went into quarantine and eventually tested negative - only to test positive again a month later, sending her to the hospital.
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Mary L. of Los Angeles, who didn't want us to share her last name, has COVID-19 and is quarantining at home. It's her second time in four months battling the virus.
"As long as you followed the guidelines, wear a mask, wash your hands, you'll be OK. But I was absolutely wrong because I was informed in the hospital by professionals that this is a flu. It does not discriminate. Just like a flu, anyone can get it again," she said.
A mother of two, Mary first tested positive for COVID-19 back on April 22 and she immediately quarantined at home.
She then tested negative in mid-May.
But it appears her antibodies didn't last long enough to keep the virus out of her system.
In late May, she returned to work and continued to follow all the safe practices including wearing a mask. On June 23, she tested positive for coronavirus again and ended up in the hospital for two weeks.
"Something out of a movie where you see a door that's plastic with a zipper on it. I was in a room like that by myself. I slept in a gurney bed for four days until there was a bed available because the hospital was packed," said Mary.
She continued to test positive on July 7 and will get tested again this week, frustrated that she continued to engage in infection-prevention behaviors after having COVID-19 the first time and still got it again.
"This is a serious virus. It's not a joke. It's not a hoax. People are getting ill from babies to pregnant women to adults. I know it because I heard it. The doctors told me," Mary said.
Experts say recovery after a confirmed infection of COVID-19 provides you immunity. They're just not sure for how long and in Mary's case it was less than two months.
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