COVID-19 cases have recently spiked and everyone’s health is once again at risk. Until not so long ago, I didn’t realize how serious the issue was 

Because of the mandated stay-at-home order, my family and I have been spending a lot of time inside with each other. Around three weeks ago, I was spending time with my siblings and talking with them for a while before I went to bed. A couple of days passed and one of my siblings became sick, and, while it was very worrisome, we hoped that it was just the seasonal flu. However, In the following days everyone in my family began to show signs of being sick as well. 

It wasn’t the flu. It was the virus.

When it comes to being sick, having COVID was one of the worst experiences I’ve had. On the first day I started showing symptoms; I had a sore throat which lasted for about two days. The sore throat was unpleasant, but it was bearable because it was a common minor symptom. 

After the sore throat went away, my eyes became very hard to open (especially in the daylight) and I had a very bad cough. The symptom was so bad that going outside would instantly make me cry. My eyes hurt to the point that I couldn’t look around unless I turned my whole body.

After this, I developed the worst symptom –I lost my sense of taste and smell. Nothing had flavor; I could only tell if it was hot or cold. My appetite was gone because of how unpleasant it was to eat. It was scary to have COVID, but I wasn’t too worried because people around my age typically do not pass away unless there are other medical issues involved.

The part that worried me the most was my parents. Even though everyone in my family became sick,my parent’s diagnosis scared me the most. I was terrified that something would happen to them, and it would have potentially been my fault because I also had it at the time. 

To be honest, I don’t know what I would’ve done if something happened to them. Luckily, we are no longer positive and everyone is fine, but it was still extremely frightening at the time. Having Covid lasted around two weeks and during the process of getting better it just felt like all the symptoms were slowly fading away. My senses that I had lost slowly returned back to me. Before catching the virus, I didn’t think it was that bad but after having gone through it myself, I definitely had a change of heart. It’s not only a bad experience for those who get it, but it’s also scary for family members and friends. Stay safe and please quarantine.