A local woman is sharing her story after she tested positive for the novel coronavirus, saying that quick test results and taking the virus seriously were critical in helping to deal with the illness.
“At first, I just felt chest pain and thought ‘oh my goodness this is really weird,’” Anna Grancher, who has since recovered from the virus, said.
Grancher’s symptoms came on quickly. On the same day she began to feel chest pain, she said that simply breathing deeply caused her intense pain.
“This did not seem normal and I’ve never felt anything like it,” she said. “There were some similarities (to other infections), body aches, fever chills. What made this different were the chest symptoms.”
Grancher began experiencing the symptoms on March 17. By March 20 she had been tested for the virus, and two days later she received her positive test results.
“That was the scariest point, when they told me that I was positive and I thought ‘oh my gosh this is real,’” she recalled.
Now, with a massive influx of tests, results are taking longer to process. Some doctors, including Dr. Rahul Khare, prepared early for the surge.
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“When I started seeing what was going on in China, Iran and Italy, it became very clear to me that we had a pandemic coming,” Dr. Khare, owner of Innovative Express Care, said.
The doctor ordered additional personal protective equipment and viral transport tubes early, partnering with a lab to get results to patients as soon as possible.
“About 25 percent of our patients get results back in about two days,” he said. “About half get it back in 4-to-5 days.”
His clinic is now offering drive-thru testing for anyone with symptoms, and has been averaging about 60 tests per day, he says.
The clinic has processed approximately 160 positive tests so far, including Grancher, and now that she is recovering from the virus, she’s encouraging everyone to take the virus, and its effects, seriously.
“It’s a big deal. It’s a huge deal,” she said.
