COVID-19 Patient Shares Experience with the Virus

Celina Jimenez

Over in Caye Caulker, the numbers are beginning to edge up.  Like in San Pedro and other parts of the country, infected persons are coming forward to reveal their status.  These decisions are generally viewed as positive and brave.  However, there are many more patients who have decided to keep their status under wraps due to the stigma, discrimination and emotional toll they have had to endure through social media platforms.  The Ministry of Health says that the psychological damage caused by stigmatization may be greater than the physical symptoms experienced by the illness and it can have an impact even after recovery from those symptoms.  Caye Caulker resident, Celina Jimenez decided to share her status to her friends on Facebook. Jimenez says it is the right thing to do so that others are aware that COVID-19 is real. She shared her experience with the virus.

Celina Jimenez, COVID-19 Patient

“I had terrible symptoms. There was no appetite. My mouth was bitter. I got diarrhea. I got vomiting. I got pains in the body. I got muscle cramps. My scalp was hurting at a point in time. So it is the entire body that felt that it was shutting down. I was swabbed on Saturday and after I was swabbed I started to feel fever every day. Nothing took it off. Tylenol did take of off for a little while but just as it came off, two hours later I got fever all over again. I have a cough. Right now I took something for it so it calmed down but when I start coughing and coughing the worse is at night. The fever, the cough. Thank the good Lord I don’t have breathing problem.”