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Coronavirus was something that happened to other people, a 21-year-old Nashville, Tenn., woman said online recently.
Two days later Ireland Tate learned she was wrong, after testing positive for the virus, which is also known as COVID-19.
Now she’s quarantined inside her parents’ home with painful symptoms and is urging other young adults to take the virus threat seriously.
TENNESSEE MAN WITH CORONAVIRUS DESCRIBES LIFE AS ‘PATIENT ZERO’
“While it may not be affecting you, you could be affecting someone’s grandma or grandpa or aunt or uncle or sister,” Tate said, according to FOX 17 of Nashville.
Previously, Tate had scoffed online about the idea of social distancing – staying at least six feet away from others to avoid either catching the virus or spreading it as an asymptomatic carrier.
“So, I’m aware that we’re supposed to be self-quarantining and social distancing all these things to keep everyone safe. Cool. I get it,” Tate had said in a video. “I just don’t think that I’m going to get the virus.”
In a subsequent video she described the effects of the illness.
“It feels like someone is sitting on my chest at all times. It’s really hard to breathe. I’ve coughed until my throat has bled,” Tate said later, according to FOX 17.
Tate said she believes she caught the virus after going out with a group of friends who were intent on defying the city’s directives against group gatherings.
As of Wednesday, Tennessee had 224 confirmed cases of coronavirus involving adults age 21-30, the station reported.
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Dr. James Hildreth, president of Meharry Medical College, who serves on the city’s coronavirus task force, said Tate’s case should be a warning sign to others.
“There are still those who only believe that the virus affects those who are elderly and with underlying conditions,” Hildreth told FOX 17. “That’s clearly not the case.”
