'Just stay home': Young recovering COVID-19 patient from Panorama City shares eye-opening experience
Although the elderly population are most at-risk for coronavirus, a 23-year-old Panorama City man recovering from coronavirus is reminding people that anyone could get it.
NORTHRIDGE, Calif. (KABC) -- People performing essential jobs are at a higher risk of getting infected with coronavirus. For one local maintenance technician, his fears were realized when he ended up hospitalized.
Zachary Ocab, 23, is doing a lot better now. He's out of the hospital and in recovery, but he learned some first-hand lessons.
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He spent four days at Dignity Health Northridge Hospital after testing positive for COVID-19.
"I think the biggest thing that I would say or would want people to understand is that you're not immortal. Anybody can get it," said Ocab.
The maintenance tech from Panorama City had a fever of 104, and like many patients, had shortness of breath.
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"And that's when I was just like yeah, there's something really going on here. I really need to go figure out what's going on," said Ocab.
Now that he's out of the hospital and completing his 14-day quarantine, he wants people to know what it's like in the hospital for our health care heroes.
"Being in the hospital for sure opened up my eyes and being able to understand what's really going on. See the fight that these nurses have to put up every day. Most of them are putting in 12-hour shifts or more. And I think it's very unfair to want to open everything up and essentially open up the floodgates for whatever could come with it, but if anything, please listen to all of our authorities, just stay at home," he said.
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