My fiancé and I were diagnosed with COVID-19 in March. As a young, healthy couple of 27 and 32 I would have never expected to become as ill as we did. Our illness lasted 2.5 months and we had to rely on friends to bring us supplies since we both live hours away from our parents and family. After an X-ray showed the presence of pneumonia our condition only improved slightly. To no fault of his own, our doctor could not determine why we were not improving. We have since recovered, but the lasting effects of the virus are evident. We lost significant amounts of muscle mass and continue to have episodes of fatigue and inflammation that leads to chest and joint pain. Only time will tell if we have lasting damage to the lungs or other parts of the cardiovascular system.
We were exposed when safety guidelines had not been established, luckily now that is not the case. This virus can be stopped by taking necessary precautions such as wearing a mask, social distancing, washing hands and avoiding indoor gatherings. We became very ill, and others have a chance to avoid it.